The Pirate Slaver By Harry Collingwood

The Pirate Slaver, by Harry Collingwood 1
CHAPTER ONE.
CHAPTER TWO.
CHAPTER THREE.
CHAPTER FOUR.
CHAPTER FIVE.
CHAPTER SIX.
CHAPTER SEVEN.
CHAPTER EIGHT.
CHAPTER NINE.
CHAPTER TEN.
CHAPTER ELEVEN.
CHAPTER TWELVE.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN.
CHAPTER NINETEEN.
CHAPTER TWENTY.
The Pirate Slaver, by Harry Collingwood
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Title: The Pirate Slaver A Story of the West African Coast
The Pirate Slaver, by Harry Collingwood 2
Author: Harry Collingwood
Illustrator: W.H. Overend
Release Date: November 15, 2007 [EBook #23498]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ASCII
*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE PIRATE SLAVER ***
Produced by Nick Hodson of London, England
The Pirate Slaver
a Story of the West African Coast
by Harry Collingwood.
CHAPTER ONE. 3
CHAPTER ONE.
THE CONGO RIVER.
"Land ho! broad on the port bow!"
The cry arose from the look-out on the forecastle of her Britannic Majesty's 18-gun brig Barracouta, on a
certain morning near the middle of the month of November, 1840; the vessel then being situated in about
latitude 6 degrees 5 minutes south and about 120 east longitude. She was heading to the eastward,
close-hauled on the port tack, under every rag that her crew could spread to the light and almost imperceptible
draught of warm, damp air that came creeping out from the northward. So light was the breeze that it scarcely
wrinkled the glassy smoothness of the long undulations upon which the brig rocked and swayed heavily while
her lofty trucks described wide arcs across the paling sky overhead, from which the stars were vanishing one
after another before the advance of the pallid dawn. And at every lee roll her canvas flapped with a rattle as of
a volley of musketry to the masts, sending down a smart shower from the dew-saturated cloths upon the deck,
to fill again with the report of a nine-pounder and a great slatting of sheets and blocks as the ship recovered
herself and rolled to windward.
The brig was just two months out from England, from whence she had been dispatched to the West African
coast to form a portion of the slave-squadron and to relieve the old Garnet, which, from her phenomenal lack
of speed, had proved utterly unsuitable for the service of chasing and capturing the nimble slavers who,
despite all our precautions, were still pursuing their cruel and nefarious vocation with unparalleled audacity
and success. We had relieved the Garnet, and had looked in at Sierra Leone for the latest news; the result of
this visit being that we were now heading in for the mouth of the Congo, which river had been strongly
commended to our especial attention by the Governor of the little British colony. Our captain, Commander
Henry Stopford, was by no means a communicative man, it being a theory of his that it is a mistake on the
part of a chief to confide more to his officers than is absolutely necessary for the efficient and intelligent
performance of their duty; hence he had not seen fit to make public the exact particulars of the information
thus received. But he had of course made an exception in favour of Mr Young, our popular first luff; and as
I--Henry Dugdale, senior mid of the Barracouta--happened to be something of a favourite with the latter, I
learned from him, in the course of conversation, some of the circumstances that were actuating our
movements. The intelligence, however, was of a very meagre character, and simply amounted to this: That
large numbers of African slaves were being continually landed on the Spanish West Indian islands; that two
boats with their crews had mysteriously disappeared in the Congo while engaged upon a search of that river
for slavers; and that a small felucca named the Wasp--a tender to the British ship-sloop Lapwing--had also
disappeared with all hands, some three months previously, after having been seen in pursuit of a large brig
that had come out of the river; these circumstances leading to the inference that the Congo was the haunt of a
strong gang of daring slavers whose capture must be effected at any cost.
It was for this service that the Barracouta had been selected, she being a brand-new ship especially built for
work on the West African coast, and modelled to sail at a high speed upon a light draught of water. She was
immensely beamy for her length, and very shallow, drawing only ten feet of water with all her stores and
ammunition on board, very heavily sparred--too heavily, some of us thought--and, as for canvas, her topsails
had the hoist of those of a frigate of twice her tonnage. She was certainly a beautiful model of a ship--far and
away the prettiest that I had ever seen when I first stepped on board her--while her speed, especially in light
winds and tolerably smooth water, was such as to fill us all, fore and aft, with the most extravagant hopes of
success against the light-heeled slave clippers whose business it was ours to suppress. She was a flush-decked
vessel, with high, substantial bulwarks pierced for nine guns of a side, and she mounted fourteen 18-pounder
carronades and four long nine-pounders, two forward and two aft, which could be used as bow and
stern-chasers respectively, if need were, although we certainly did not anticipate the necessity to employ any
of our guns in the latter capacity. Our crew, all told, numbered one hundred and sixty-five.
CHAPTER ONE. 4
I was in the first lieutenant's watch, and happened to be on deck when the look-out reported land upon the
morning upon which this story opens. I remember the circumstance as well as though it had occurred but
yesterday, and I have only to close my eyes to bring the whole scene up before my mental vision as distinctly
as a picture. The brig was, as I have already said, heading to the eastward, close-hauled, on the port tack,
under everything that we could set, to her royals; but the wind was so scant that even the light upper sails
flapped and rustled monotonously to the sleepy heave and roll of the ship, and it was only by glancing through
a port at the small, iridescent air-bubbles that drifted astern at the rate of about a knot and a half in the hour
that we were able to detect the fact of our own forward movement at all. We had been on deck just an
hour--for two bells had barely been struck-- when the first faint suggestion of dawn appeared ahead in the
shape of a scarcely-perceptible lightening of the sky along a narrow strip of the eastern horizon, in the midst
of which the morning star beamed resplendently, while the air, although still warm, assumed a freshness that,
compared with the close, muggy heat of the past night, seemed almost cold, so that involuntarily I drew the
lapels of my thin jacket together and buttoned the garment from throat to waist. Quickly, yet by imperceptible
gradations, the lightening of the eastern sky spread and strengthened, the soft, velvety, star-lit, blue-black hue
paling to an arch of cold, colourless pallor as the dawn asserted itself more emphatically, while the stars
dwindled and vanished one by one in the rapidly-growing light. As the pallor of the sky extended itself
insidiously north and south along the horizon, a low-lying bank of what at first presented the appearance of
dense vapour became visible on the Barracouta's larboard bow; but presently, when the cold whiteness of the
coming day became flushed with a delicate tint of purest, palest primrose, the supposed fog-bank assumed a
depth of rich purple hue and a clear-cut sharpness of outline that proclaimed it what it was--land, most
unmistakably. The look-out was a smart young fellow, who had already established a reputation for
trustworthiness, and he more than half suspected the character of the cloud-like appearance when it first
caught his attention; he therefore kept his eye upon it, and was no sooner assured of its nature than he raised
the cry of--
"Land ho! broad on the port bow!"
The first luff, who had been for some time meditatively pacing the weather side of the deck from the binnacle
to the gangway, with his hands clasped behind his back and his glance directed alternately to the deck at his
feet and to the swaying main-royal-mast-head, quickly awoke from his abstraction at the cry from the
forecastle, and, springing lightly upon a carronade slide, with one hand grasping the inner edge of the
hammock-rail, looked long and steadily in the direction indicated.
"Ay, ay, I see it," he answered, when after a long, steady look he had satisfied himself of the character of what
he gazed upon. "Wheel, there, how's her head?"
"East-south-east, sir!" answered the helmsman promptly.
The lieutenant shut one eye and, raising his right arm, with the hand held flat and vertically, pointed toward
the southern extremity of the distant land, held it there for a moment, and murmured--
"A point and a half--east-half-south, distant--what shall we say--twenty miles? Ay, about that, as nearly as
may be. Mr Dugdale, just slip below and let the master know that the land is in sight on the port bow, bearing
east-half-south, distant twenty miles."
I touched my cap and trundled down to the master's cabin, the door of which was hooked back wide open,
permitting the cool, refreshing morning air that came in through the open scuttle free play throughout the full
length of the rather circumscribed apartment in which Mr Robert Bates lay snoring anything but melodiously.
Entering the cabin, I grasped the worthy man by the shoulder and shook him gently, calling him by name at
the same time in subdued tones in order that I might not awake the occupants of the contiguous berths.
"Ay, ay," was the answer, as the snoring abruptly terminated in a convulsive snort: "Ay, ay. What's the matter
CHAPTER ONE. 5
now, youngster? Has the ship tumbled overboard during the night, or has the skipper's cow gone aloft to roost
in the main-top, that you come here disturbing me with your `Mr Bates--Mr Bates'?"
"Neither, sir," answered I, with a low laugh at this specimen of our worthy master's quaint nautical humour;
"but the first lieutenant directed me to let you know that the land is in sight on the port bow, bearing
east-half-south, distant twenty miles."
"What, already?" exclaimed my companion, scrambling out of his cot, still more than half asleep, and landing
against me with a force that sent me spinning out through the open doorway to bring up prostrate with a crash
in the cabin of the doctor opposite, half stunned by the concussion of my skull against the bulkhead and by the
avalanche of ponderous tomes that came crashing down upon me as the worthy medico's tier of hanging
bookshelves yielded and came down by the run at my wild clutch as I stumbled over the ledge of the
cabin-door.
"Murther! foire! thieves! it's sunk, burnt, desthroyed, and kilt intoirely that I am!" roared poor Blake, rudely
awakened out of a sound sleep by the crashing fall of his pet volumes upon the deck and by a terrific thwack
across the face that I had inadvertently dealt him as I fell. "Fwhat is it that's happenin' at all, thin? is it a
collision? or is it a case of sthrandin'? or"--he looked over the edge of his cot and saw me sitting upon the
deck, ruefully rubbing the back of my head while I vainly struggled to suppress my laughter at the ridiculous
contretemps--"oh! so it's you, thin, is it, Misther Dugdale? Bedad, but you ought to be ashamed of yoursilf to
be playin' these pranks--a lad of your age, that's hitherto been the patthern of good behaviour! But wait a little,
my man--sthop till I tell the first liftinint of your outhrageous conduct--"
By this time I thought that the matter had gone far enough; more over, I had in a measure recovered my
scattered senses, so I scrambled to my feet and, as I re-hung the book shelf and replaced the books, hurriedly
explained to the good man the nature of the mishap, winding up with a humble apology for having so rudely
broken in upon what he was pleased to call his "beauty shlape." Understanding at once that my involuntary
incursion into the privacy of his cabin had been the result of pure accident, "Paddy," as we irreverently called
him--his baptismal name was William--very good-naturedly accepted my explanation and apology, and
composed himself to sleep again, whereupon I retreated in good order and re-entered the master's cabin. The
old boy had by this time slipped on his breeches and coat, and was bending over the table with the chart of
"Africa--West Coast" spread out thereon, and a pencil and parallel ruler in his hands. He indulged in one or
two of the grimly humorous remarks that were characteristic of him in reference to my disturbance of the
doctor's slumbers; and then, pointing to a dot that he had just made upon the chart, observed--
"If the first lieutenant's bearing and distance are right, that's where we are, about twelve miles off Shark Point,
and therefore in soundings. Did you see the land, Mr Dugdale? What was it like?"
"It made as a long stretch of undulating hills sloping gently down to the horizon at its southernmost extremity,
and extending beyond the horizon to the northward," I replied.
"Ay, ay, that's right; that's quite right," agreed the master. "It is that range of hills stretching along parallel
with the coast on the north side of the river, and reaching as far as Kabenda Point," indicating the markings on
the chart as he spoke. "Well, let us go on deck and get a cast of the lead; it is time that we ascertained the
exact position of the ship, for the deep-water channel is none too wide, and although there seems to be plenty
of water for us over the banks on either side, I have no fancy for trusting to the soundings laid down here on
the chart. These African rivers are never to be depended upon, the shoals are constantly shifting, and where
you may find water enough to float a line-of-battle ship to-day, you may ground in that same ship's launch a
month hence."
He rolled up the chart, tucked it under his arm, gathered up his parallel ruler, pencil, and dividers, and together
we left the cabin and made our way up the hatchway to the deck, where we found the first luff still perched
CHAPTER ONE. 6
upon the carronade slide, anxiously scanning the horizon on either bow under the sharp of his hand.
As we reached the deck a spark of golden fire flashed out upon the horizon on our lee bow, and the sun's disc
soared slowly into view, warming the tints of a long, low-lying broken bank of grey cloud that stretched
athwart his course into crimson, and fringing its skirts with gold as his first beams shot athwart the heaving
water to the ship in a tremulous path of shimmering, dazzling radiance.
The lieutenant caught a glimpse of us out of the corner of his eye as we emerged from the hatchway, and at
once stepped down off the slide on to the deck.
"Good-morning, Bates," said he. "Well, here we are, with the land plainly in view, you see; and I am glad that
you have come on deck to tell us just where we are, for all this part of the world is quite new ground to me.
We are closer in than I thought we were, for just before the sun rose the horizon ahead cleared, and I caught
sight of what looked like the tops of trees, both on the port and on the starboard bow--you can't see them now
for the dazzle, but you will presently, when the sun is a bit higher--and there seemed to be an opening or
indentation of some sort between them, which I take to be the mouth of the river."
"Ay, ay," answered Bates, "that will be it, no doubt." He sprang on to the slide that Young had just vacated,
took a long look at the land, and then, turning to the helmsman, demanded, "How's her head?"
"East-south-east, sir," answered the man for the second time.
With this information the master in his turn took an approximate bearing of the southernmost extremity of the
range of hills, after which he stepped down on to the deck again and, going to the capstan, spread out his chart
upon the head of it, calling me to help him keep the roll open. The lieutenant followed him, and stood
watching as the master again manipulated his parallel ruler and dividers.
"Yes," remarked Bates, after a few moments' diligent study, "that's just about where we are," pointing to the
mark that he had made upon the chart while in his own cabin. "And see," he continued, glancing out through
the nearest lee port, "we have reached the river water; look how brown and thick it is, more like a cup of the
captain's chocolate than good, wholesome salt water. We will try a cast of the lead, Mr Young, if you please,
just to make sure; though if we are fair in the channel, as I think we are, we shall get no bottom as yet. Nor
shall we make any headway until the wind freshens or the sea-breeze springs up, for we are already within the
influence of the outflowing current, and at this season of the year--which is the rainy season--it runs very
strongly a little further in."
The lead was hove, but, as Bates had anticipated, no bottom was found; whereupon the master rolled up his
chart again, gave orders that the ship was to be kept going as she was, and returned to his cabin, while the
watch mustered their buckets and scrubbing-brushes and proceeded to wash decks and generally make the
brig's toilet for the day.
Our worthy master was right; we did not make a particle of headway until about nine o'clock, when the wind
gradually hauled round aft and freshened to a piping breeze before which we boomed along in fine style until
we came abreast of a low, narrow point on our port hand, protected from the destructive action of the Atlantic
breakers by a shoal extending some three-quarters of a mile to seaward. Abreast of this point we hauled up to
the northward and entered a sort of bay about half-a-mile wide, with the low point before-mentioned on our
port hand, and a wide mud-bank to starboard, beyond which was an island of considerable extent, fringed with
mangroves and covered with thick bush and lofty trees. On the low point on our port hand were two
"factories," or trading establishments, abreast of which were lying two brigs and a barque, one of the brigs
flying British and the other Spanish colours, while the barque sported the Dutch ensign at her mizen-peak. We
rounded-to just far enough outside these craft to give them a clear berth, and let go our anchor in four fathoms
of water.
CHAPTER ONE. 7
It was a queer spot that we now found ourselves in; queer to me at least, who was now entering upon my first
experience of West African service. We were riding with our head to the north-west under the combined
influence of wind and tide together, with the low point--named Banana Peninsula, so the master informed me,
though why it should be so named I never could understand, for there was not a single banana-tree upon the
whole peninsula, as I subsequently ascertained. Let me see, where was I? I have gone adrift among those
non-existent banana-trees. Oh yes, I was going to attempt to make a word-sketch of the scene which
surrounded us after we had let go our anchor and furled our canvas. The sea-breeze was piping strong from
the westward, while the tide was ebbing down the creek from the northward, and under these combined
influences the Barracouta was riding with her head about north--west. Banana Peninsula lay ahead of us,
trending away along our larboard beam and slightly away from us to the southward for about half-a-mile,
where it terminated in a sandy beach bordered by a broad patch of smooth water, athwart which marched an
endless line of mimic breakers from the wall of flashing white surf that thundered upon the outer edge of the
protecting shoal three-quarters of a mile to seaward. The point was pretty thickly covered with bush and trees,
chiefly cocoa-nut and other palms--except in the immediate vicinity and in front of the two factories, where
the soil had been cleared and a sort of rough wharf constructed by driving piles formed of the trunks of trees
into the ground and wedging a few slabs of sawn timber in behind them. The point, for a distance of perhaps a
mile from its southern extremity, was very narrow--not more than from one hundred and fifty to two hundred
yards wide--but beyond that it widened out considerably until it merged in the mainland. On the opposite side
of the creek, on our starboard quarter and astern of us, was what I at first took to be a single island, but which
I subsequently found to be a group of about a dozen islands, of which the smallest may have been half-a-mile
long by about a third of a mile broad, while the largest was some nine or ten miles long by about three miles
broad. These islands really constituted the northern bank of the river for a distance some twenty-four miles up
the stream, being cut off from the mainland and from each other by narrow canal-like creeks running
generally in a direction more or less east and west. The land all about here was low, and to a great extent
swampy, the margin of the creeks being lined with mangroves that presented a very curious appearance as
they stood up out of the dark, slimy-looking water, their trunks supported upon a network of naked, twisted
roots that strongly suggested to me the idea of spiders' legs swollen and knotted with some hideous,
deforming disease. The trees themselves, however, apart from their twisted, gnarled, and knotted roots,
presented a very pleasing appearance, for they had just come into full leaf, and their fresh green foliage was
deeply grateful to the eye satiated with a long and wearisome repetition of the panorama of unbroken sea and
sky. Beyond the belt of mangroves the islands were overgrown with dense bush, interspersed with tall trees,
some of which were rich with violet blossoms growing in great drooping clusters, like the flowers of the
laburnum; while others were heavily draped with long, trailing sprays of magnificent jasmine, of which there
were two kinds, one bearing a pinky flower, and the other a much larger star-like bloom of pure white. The
euphorbia, acacia, and baobab or calabash-tree were all in bloom; and here and there, through openings
between the trunks of the mangroves, glimpses were caught of rich splashes of deep orange-colour, standing
out like flame against the dark background of shadowed foliage, that subsequent investigation proved to be
clumps of elegant orchids. It appeared that we had entered the river at precisely the right time of the year to
behold it at its brightest and best, for the spring rains had only recently set in, and all Nature was rioting in the
refreshment of the welcome moisture and bursting forth into a joyous prodigality of leaf and blossom, of
colour and perfume, of life and glad activity. The forest rang with the calls and cries of pairing birds; flocks of
parrots, parrakeets, and love-birds were constantly wheeling and darting hither and thither; kingfishers flitted
low across the placid water, or watched motionless from some overhanging branch for the passage of their
unsuspecting prey; the wydah bird flaunted his gay plumage in the brilliant sunshine, where it could be seen to
the fullest advantage; and butterflies, like living gems, flitted happily from flower to flower. Astern of us,
some three miles away, lay Boolambemba Point, the southernmost extremity of the group of islands to which
I have already alluded, where the embouchure of the river may be said to begin, the stream here being about
three and a half miles across, while immediately below it abruptly widens to a breadth of about five and a half
miles at the indentation leading to Banana Creek, in the narrow approach to which we were lying at anchor.
Of course it was not possible for us to distinguish, from where we were lying, much of the character of the
country on the southern or left bank of the river, but it appeared to be pretty much the same as what we saw
around us; that is to say, low land densely covered with bush and trees along the river margin, with higher
CHAPTER ONE. 8
land beyond. About half-a-mile beyond us, broad on our starboard bow as we were then lying, the anchorage
narrowed down to a width of less than half-a-mile, the western extremity of the group of islands already
referred to there converging toward Banana Peninsula in a low, mangrove-wooded point. Beyond this,
however, could be seen a stretch of water about a mile and a half wide, which I subsequently learned ran for
several miles up at the back of the islands, between them and the mainland, in the form of a narrow, shallow,
canal-like creek that Bates, the master, seemed to think might well repay the trouble of careful inspection,
since the narrow maze of channels to which it gave access offered exceptional facilities for the embarkation of
slaves, and a choice of routes for the light-draught slavers from their places of concealment into the main
channel of the river.
CHAPTER TWO. 9
CHAPTER TWO.
WE RECEIVE SOME IMPORTANT INTELLIGENCE.
We had barely got our canvas furled and the decks cleared when we saw a fine, handsome whale-boat, painted
white, with a canvas awning spread over her stern-sheets, and the Portuguese flag fluttering from a little staff
at her stern, shove off from the wharf and pull toward us. She was manned by four Krumen, and in the
stern-sheets sat a tall, swarthy man, whose white drill suit and white, broad-brimmed Panama hat, swathed
with a white puggaree, caused his suntanned face and hands to appear almost as black as the skins of his negro
crew. The boat swept up to our gangway in very dashing style, and her owner, ascending the accommodation
ladder, stepped in on deck with a genial smile that disclosed a splendid set of brilliantly white teeth beneath
his heavy, glossy black moustache.
"Good-morning, sar," said he to the first lieutenant, who met him at the gangway. "Velcome to Banana," with
a flourish of his hat. "Vat chip dis is, eh?"
"Her Britannic Majesty's brig Barracouta," answered Young. "You are the Portuguese consul here, I
suppose?"
"No--no; I not de consul," was the answer. "Dere is no consul at Banana. I am Senor Joaquin Miguel Lobo,
Portuguese trader, at your savice, sar; and I have come off to say dat I shall be happie to supply your chip wid
anyting dat you may require--vattare, fresh meat, vegetabl', feesh, no fruit--de fruit not ripe yet; plenty fruit by
an' by, but not ripe yet--parrots, monkeys--all kind of bird and animal, yes; and curiositie--plenty curiositie,
sar."
Here the skipper, who had been below for a few minutes, re-appeared on deck, and, seeing the stranger,
advanced toward him, whereupon the first lieutenant introduced Senor Joaquin Miguel Lobo in proper form.
"Glad to see you, senor," remarked the skipper genially. "Will you step below and take a glass of wine with
Lieutenant Young and myself?"
"Ver' happie, captain, I am sure," answered the senor with another sweeping bow and flourish of his Panama;
and forthwith the trio disappeared down the hatchway, to my unbounded astonishment, for it was not quite
like our extremely dignified skipper to be so wonderfully cordial as this to a mere trader.
"Ah, I'm afraid that won't wash," remarked Bates, catching the look of astonishment and perplexity on my
face as I turned my regards away from the hatchway. "The captain means to pump the Portuguese, if he can,
but from the cut of the senor's jib I fancy there is not much to be got out of him; he looks to be far too
wide-awake to let us become as wise as himself. I'll be bound that he could put us up to many a good wrinkle
if he would; but, bless you, youngster, he's not going to spoil his own trade. He professes to be an honest
trader, of course--deals in palm-oil and ivory and what not, of course, and I've no doubt he does; but I
wouldn't mind betting a farthing cake that he ships a precious sight more black ivory than white out of this
same river. Look at that brig, for instance--the one flying Spanish colours, I mean. Just look at her! Did you
ever set your eyes upon a more beautiful hull than that? Look at the sweep of her run; see how it comes
curving round to her stern-post in a delivery so clean that it won't leave a single eddy behind it. No drag there,
my boy! And look at her sides: round as an apple--not an inch of straight in them! And do you suppose that a
brig with lines like that was built for the purpose of carrying palm-oil? Not she. I should like to have a look at
her bows; I'll be bound they are as keen as a knife--we shall see them by and by, when she swings at the turn
of the tide. Yet if that brig were overhauled--as she probably will be--nothing whatever of a suspicious
character would be found aboard her, except maybe a whole lot of casks, which they would say was for
stowing the palm-oil in. Well, here we are; but we shall have to keep our eyes open night and day to weather
upon the rascally slavers; they are as sly as foxes, and always up to some new circumventing trick."
CHAPTER TWO. 10
With which reflection, followed by a deep sigh at the wily genius of the slaving fraternity in general, the
worthy master turned upon his heel and retired below.
The Portuguese remained in the cabin for over an hour; and when he came on deck again, accompanied by the
captain and the first lieutenant, I thought that the two latter looked decidedly elated, as though, despite the
master's foreboding, they had succeeded in obtaining some important information. The captain was
particularly gracious to his visitor, going even to the length of shaking hands with him ere he passed out
through the gangway, the first luff of course following suit, as in duty bound.
"Then we may rely upon you to send us off the fresh meat and vegetables early this afternoon?" remarked
Young, as he stood at the gangway.
"Yais, yais; dey shall be alongside by t'ree o'clock at de lates'!" answered the Portuguese. "And as soon as you
have receive dem you had better veigh and leave de creek. Give dat point"--indicating Boolambemba
Point--"a bert' of a mile and you veel be all right."
"Yes, thanks, I will remember," returned the first lieutenant. "And where are we to pick you up?"
"Hus-s-sh! my dear sair; not so loud, if you please," answered Lobo, hastily leaving his boat and coming
half-way up the gangway ladder again. "Dere is a leetl' creek about two mile pas' de point, on de nort' bank of
de river. I vill be on de look-out for you dere in a small canoe vid two men dat I can trus'. And you mus' pick
me up queevk, because if eet vas known dat I had consent to pilot you my t'roat would be cut before I vas a
mont' oldaire."
"Never fear," answered Young. "We will keep a sharp look-out for you and get you on board without anybody
being a penny the wiser. Good-bye."
The Portuguese bowed with another flourish of his hat, seated himself in the stern-sheets of his boat, gave the
word to his Krumen, and a few minutes later was on the wharf, walking toward his factory, into the open door
of which he disappeared.
"Come," thought I, "there is something afoot already. The captain and the first luff have, between them,
evidently contrived to worm some intelligence out of the Portuguese. I must go and tell Bates the news."
Before I could do so, however, the captain, who had been standing near the gangway, listening to what was
passing between Young and Lobo, caught sight of me and said--
"Mr Dugdale, be good enough to find Mr Bates, and tell him that I shall feel obliged if he will come to me for
a few minutes in my cabin."
I touched my hat, dived down the hatchway, and gave the message, whereupon the master stepped out of his
cabin and made his way aft. He was with the captain nearly half-an-hour; and when he re-appeared he looked
as pleased as Punch.
"I'll never attempt to judge a man's character by his face again," he exclaimed, as he caught me by the arm,
and walked me along the deck beside him. "Who would have thought that a piratical-looking rascal like that
Portuguese would have been friendly disposed towards the representatives of law and order? Yet he has not
only given the captain valuable information, but has actually consented to pilot the ship to the spot which is to
serve as our base of operations, although, as he says, should the slavers get to know of his having done such a
thing, they would cut his throat without hesitation."
"Yes," said I, "I heard him make that remark to Mr Young just before shoving off. And pray, Mr Bates--if the
CHAPTER TWO. 11
question be not indiscreet-- what is the nature of the expedition upon which we are to engage this afternoon?"
"Well, I don't know why I shouldn't tell you," answered Bates, a little doubtfully. "Our movements are of
course to be conducted with all possible secrecy, but if I tell you I don't suppose you'll go ashore and hire the
town-crier to make public our intentions; and all hands will have to know--more or less--what we're after,
very soon, so I suppose I shall not be infringing any of the Articles of War if I tell you now; but you needn't
go and publish the news throughout the ship, d'ye see? Let the skipper do that when he thinks fit."
"Certainly," I assented. "You may rely implicitly upon my discretion."
"Oh yes, of course," retorted the master ironically. "A midshipman is a perfect marvel in the way of prudence
and discretion; everybody knows that! However," he continued, in a much more genial tone, "I will do you
the justice to say that you seem to have your ballast pretty well stowed, and that you stand up to your canvas
as steadily as any youngster that I've ever fallen in with; so I don't suppose there'll be very much harm in
trusting you. You must know, then, that there's a bit of a creek, called Chango Creek, some fourteen or fifteen
miles up the river from here; and in that creek there is at this moment lying snugly at anchor, quite
unconscious of our proximity, and leisurely filling up her complement of blacks, a large Spanish brig called
the Mercedes hailing from Havana. She is a notorious slaver, and is strongly suspected of having played the
part of pirate more than once, when circumstances were favourable. Moreover, from what our Portuguese
friend Lobo says, she was in the river when the Sapphire's two boats with their crews disappeared; and
according to the dates he gives, she must also have been the craft that the plucky little Wasp was in chase of
when last seen. There is very little doubt, therefore, that the Mercedes is the craft--or, at all events, one of
them--which it is our especial mission to capture at any cost; and we are therefore going to weigh this
afternoon for the purpose of beating up her quarters. Lobo has undertaken to pilot us as far as the mouth of the
creek; and as he tells us that the brig is fully a hundred tons bigger than ourselves, is armed to the teeth, and is
manned by a big crowd of desperadoes, every man of whom has bound himself by a fearful oath never to lay
down his arms while the breath remains in his body, I shouldn't wonder if we find out before all is done that
we have undertaken a pretty tough job."
"It would seem like it, if Senor Lobo's information is to be relied upon," said I, an involuntary shudder and
qualm thrilling me as my vivid imagination instantly conjured up a vision of the impending conflict. "But I
suppose every precaution will be taken to catch the rascals unawares?"
"You may be sure of that," answered the master, peering curiously into my face as he spoke. "Captain
Stopford is not the man to court a reverse, or a heavy loss of life, by unduly advertising his intentions. But you
look pale, boy! You are surely not beginning to funk, are you?"
"No," said I, a little dubiously, "I think not. But this will be my first experience of fighting, you know--I have
never been face to face with an enemy thus far--and I must confess that the idea of a hand-to-hand fight--for I
suppose it will come to that--a life-and-death struggle, wherein one has not only to incur the awful
responsibility of hurling one's fellow-creatures into eternity, but also to take the fearful risk of being hurled
thither one's self, perhaps without a moment of time in which to breathe a prayer for mercy, is something that
I, for one, can hardly contemplate with absolute equanimity."
"Certainly not," assented Bates kindly, linking his arm in mine as he spoke; "certainly not; you would be
something more or less--less, I should be inclined to say--than human if you could. But, as to the
responsibility of hurling those villains into eternity, do not let that trouble you for a single moment, my lad; in
endeavouring to put down this inhuman slave-trade we are engaged upon a righteous and lawful task--lawful
and righteous in the eyes of God as well as of man, I humbly believe--and if the traffickers in human flesh and
human freedom and human happiness choose to risk and lose their lives in the pursuit of their hellish trade,
the responsibility must rest with themselves, and in my humble opinion the earth is well rid of such inhuman
monsters. And as to the other matter--that of being yourself hurried into eternity unprepared--it need not
CHAPTER TWO. 12
occur, my boy; no one need die unprepared. What I mean is, of course, that all should take especial care to be
prepared for death whenever it may meet us, for we know not what a day, or an hour, or even a moment may
bring forth; the man who walks the streets of his native town in fancied security is actually just as liable to be
cut off unawares as are we who follow the terrible but necessary profession of arms; the menaces to life
ashore are as numerous as they are afloat, or more so; the forms of accident are innumerable. And therefore I
say that all should be careful to so conduct themselves that they may be prepared to face death at any moment.
And if they are not, they may easily become so; for God's ear is always open to the cry of His children, and I
will take it upon myself to say that no earnest, heartfelt prayer is ever allowed to go unanswered. So, if you
have any misgivings about to-night's work, go to God and ask for His mercy and protection and help; and
then, whatever happens, you will be all right."
So saying, the good old fellow halted just abreast the hatchway, which we had reached at this point in our
perambulation fore and aft the deck, and, gently urging me toward it suggestively, released my arm and turned
away. I took the hint thus given me and, without a word--for indeed at that moment I was too deeply moved
for speech--made my way below to the midshipmen's berth, which I found opportunely empty, and there cast
myself upon my knees and prayed earnestly for some minutes. When I arose from this act of devotion I was
once more calm and unperturbed; and from that moment I date a habit of prayer that has been an inexpressible
comfort and support to me ever since.
Upon returning to the deck the first object that caught my eyes was our gig, with the first luff and little
Pierrepoint--our junior mid but one--in the stern-sheets, pulling toward the very handsome Spanish
brig--already spoken of as lying at anchor a short distance inside of us--upon a visit of inspection. That the
inspection to which she was subjected was pretty thorough was sufficiently attested by the fact that the gig
remained alongside her a full hour, the British brig and the Dutch barque being in their turn afterwards
subjected to a similarly severe examination; but, as Bates had predicted, nothing came of it, all their papers
being perfectly in order, while a rigorous search failed to discover anything of an incriminating character on
board either of them.
"Of course not," commented the master, when he learned the substance of the first luff's report to the skipper;
"of course not. Bless ye, the people that trade to this river aren't born fools, not they! Just consider the matter
for a moment. Let's suppose, for argument's sake, that the Spaniard yonder is a slaver. Would she ship her
cargo here in the very spot that would be first visited by every man-o'-war that enters the river? Of course she
wouldn't; she'd go away up the river into one of the many creeks that branch into it on either side for the first
twenty miles or so, and ship her blacks there, watching for the chance of a dark night to slip out and get well
off the land before daylight. If she came in here at all, it would be to fill up her water and lay in a stock of
meal upon which to feed her niggers when she'd got 'em; and you may depend on it that when a slaver comes
in here upon any such errand as that, a very bright look-out is kept for cruisers, and that, upon the first sight of
a suspicious-looking sail in the offing, her irons, her meal, and everything else that would incriminate her are
bundled ashore and hidden away safely among the bushes, while her water would be started and pumped out
of her long enough before a man-o'-war could get alongside of her. What is that Spanish brig taking in?" he
continued, turning to little Pierrepoint, who, with the first lieutenant, had visited her.
"Nothing," answered the lad. "She only arrived yesterday; and her hold is half full of casks in which she is
going to stow her palm-oil."
"Of course," remarked the master sarcastically, turning to me. "What did I say to you this morning? Whenever
a ship is found in an African river with a lot of casks aboard, that ship is after palm-oil--at least, so her skipper
will tell ye. And that's where they get to wind'ard of us; for unless they've something more
incriminating--something pointing more directly to an intention to traffic in slaves--than mere casks, we
daren't touch 'em. But, you mark me, that brig's here to take off a cargo of blacks; and unless I'm greatly
mistaken she'll have vanished when we turn up here again to-morrow."
CHAPTER TWO. 13
It was just six bells in the afternoon watch when two boats--one containing fresh water in casks, and the other
loaded to her gunwale with fresh meat--mostly goat-mutton strongly impregnated with the powerful musky
odour of the animal--appeared paddling leisurely off to the Barracouta under the guidance of four powerful
but phenomenally lazy Krumen, who would probably have consumed the best part of half-an-hour in the short
passage from the wharf to the brig had not our impatient first luff dispatched a boat to tow them alongside.
The water was pumped into the tanks, the provisions were passed up the side and stowed away below in the
coolest part of the ship; and no sooner were the boats clear of the ship's side than the boatswain's whistle
shrilled along the deck, followed by the gruff bellow of "All hands unmoor ship!" the messenger was passed,
the anchor roused up to the bows, and in a few minutes the Barracouta, under her two topsails, and wafted by
a light westerly zephyr, was moving slowly down the narrow channel toward the estuary of the river.
So light was the draught of air that now impelled us, that, although every cloth was quickly spread to woo it,
the ship was a full hour and a half reaching as far as Boolambemba Point, where we met the full strength of
the river current; and when we bore away on our course up the river, our patience was severely taxed by the
discovery that, even with studding-sails set on both sides from the royals down, we could scarcely do more
than hold our own against the strong rush of the tide and current together. Slowly, however, and by
imperceptible degrees, by hugging the northern shore as closely as we dared, with the lead constantly going,
we managed to creep insidiously past the mangrove and densely bush-clad river bank until, just as the sun was
dipping into the horizon astern in a brief but indescribably magnificent blaze of purple and scarlet and gold,
we reached the place of our rendezvous with Senor Lobo. And soon afterwards we had the satisfaction of
discovering that gentleman making his way toward us out of the narrow creek, his conveyance being a small
native canoe about fifteen feet long, roughly hewn and hollowed out of a single log, and propelled by two
natives, who apparently regarded clothes as an entirely unnecessary superfluity, for they were absolutely
naked. They were fine, powerful specimens of negro manhood, however, and smart fellows withal, for they
propelled their ungainly little craft along at a truly wonderful pace with scarcely any apparent effort, sheering
her alongside the brig in quite respectable style without obliging us to start tack or sheet in order to pick them
up, and shinning up the side with the agility of a couple of monkeys as soon as they had securely made fast
the rope's-end that was hove to them.
Our impatience at the slow progress that we had thus far made was somewhat relieved by Lobo's assurance
that we might confidently rely upon a brisk breeze speedily springing up that would carry us to our destination
as soon as was at all desirable; his opinion being that our best chance of success lay in the postponement of
our attack until about two o'clock in the morning, by which time the moon would have set, and the slaver's
crew would probably be wrapped in their deepest slumber. So far as his prognostication relative to the wind
was concerned, it was soon confirmed, a strong breeze from the southward springing up, under the impulsion
of which, and with considerably reduced canvas, we reached our destination, so far as the brig was concerned,
about five bells in the first watch.
This spot was situated on the northern bank of the river, at a distance, up-stream, of about thirteen miles from
Boolambemba Point. It was at the mouth of a creek, named Chango Creek, and in a small bay or roadstead
about a mile long by perhaps half that width formed by six islands, the largest of which was nearly two miles
long by half-a-mile wide, while the smallest and most easterly of all was a very diminutive affair, of perhaps
not more than an acre in area, densely overgrown, like the rest of them, with thick, impenetrable bush. In the
very centre of this small roadstead, to which we had been piloted by the Portuguese trader, we anchored the
brig in two and a half fathoms of water; when, the canvas having been furled, and all our preparations for the
attack having been fully made before dark, a strong anchor-watch was set, and everybody else turned in to get
an hour or two's sleep, strict injunctions being laid upon the master, who had charge of the watch, to keep a
bright look-out, and to have all hands called at two bells precisely in the middle watch. As for Lobo, he took
leave of us directly that our anchor was down, and, rousing out his sable crew, who were fast asleep and
snoring melodiously underneath the long-boat, took to his canoe, once more and almost immediately vanished
among the deep black shadows of the islets that hemmed us in.
CHAPTER TWO. 14
I know not what were the feelings of others on board the brig on that eventful night, or how those two short
hours of inaction were spent in other parts of the ship, but I am convinced that when we all went below to turn
in, a very general conviction had spread among us that the enterprise upon which we were shortly to engage
was one that would prove to be more than ordinarily difficult and dangerous, and while not one of us probably
had a moment's doubt as to its ultimate result, I believe the feeling was pretty general that the struggle would
be fierce and obstinate, and that our loss would probably be unusually heavy. I gathered this from the
demeanour of the ship's crew generally, officers as well as men; the former revealing the feeling by the
extreme care with which they scrutinised and personally superintended the several preparations for the
expedition, and the latter by the grim and silent earnestness with which they performed their share of the
work. True, there was some faint attempt at jocularity among a few of the occupants of the midshipmen's
berth as we sought our hammocks, but it was manifestly braggadocio, utterly lacking the true ring of
heartiness that usually characterised such attempts, and it was speedily nipped in the bud by Gowland, the
master's mate, who gruffly recommended the offenders to "say their prayers and then go to sleep, instead of
talking nonsense." Though I was not one of the offenders I took his advice, earnestly commending myself to
the mercy and protection of the Almighty, both in the coming conflict and throughout the rest of my life,
should it please Him to spare it, after which I sank quickly into a deep, untroubled sleep.
CHAPTER THREE. 15
CHAPTER THREE.
THE NIGHT ATTACK.
From this sleep I was aroused--in a few minutes, it seemed to me, although really it was nearly two hours
later--by a boisterous banging upon the mess-table, followed by the voice of the marine who executed the
functions of steward to the mess, exclaiming--
"`All hands,' gentlemen, please! The captain and the first liftenant is already on deck."
This was followed by the rasping scrape of a lucifer match, by the feeble light of which the man's face was
seen bending over the lantern which he was endeavouring to light.
"Ay, ay, Jerry, look alive with the lantern, man!" responded the master's mate. "What is the night like?" he
continued, as he swung himself out of his hammock and hastily proceeded to thrust his long legs into his
breeches.
"Dark as pitch, sir; blowing more than half a gale of wind, and threatening rain," was the cheering answer.
"A pleasant prospect, truly," muttered Good, my especial chum, as we jostled each other in the confined space
wherein we were struggling into our clothing.
"It might be worse, however," responded Gowland, as he knotted a black silk handkerchief tightly about his
loins. "The darkness and the roar of the wind among the trees will help capitally to mask our approach, while I
dare say that the craft which we are going to attack will be in such a snug berth that nobody will think it worth
while to keep a look-out, blow high or blow low. I say, Pierrepoint, are you told off for the boats?"
Pierrepoint intimated that he was.
"Then put that rubbishy toasting-fork away and get a cutlass, boy, as Dugdale has. Of what use do you
suppose a dirk would be in a hand-to-hand fight with a great burly Spaniard? Why, none at all. I can't
understand, for my part, why such useless tools are supplied for active service! Get a good honest cutlass,
boy; something that you can trust your life to. And look sharp about it! Hurry up there, you loafers! Come,
Burdett, my boy, stir your stumps if you don't want a wigging from the first luff! Hillo, Jerry! what's that, hot
coffee? Well done, my man, I'll owe you a glass of grog for that! Pour it out quickly, and rouse out the bread
barge."
Jerry was a smart fellow and looked after us well, I will say that for him. In less than a minute a cup or
pannikin of steaming coffee stood ready for each of us, with the bread barge, well supplied, in the centre of
the table.
"There's no time for eating now, but take my advice and slip a biscuit into your pocket, each of you, to eat as
soon as the boats shove off," advised Gowland. "There is nothing worse for a man, in this climate--or any
climate, for the matter of that--than to turn out and go into the open air in the middle of the night upon an
empty stomach." And, suiting the action to the word, he thrust a biscuit into each of his side-pockets, placed a
morsel in his mouth, and, with the exclamation, "Well, I'm off!" darted up the ladder and disappeared.
I followed, and, upon reaching the deck, found that all hands were mustered and waiting for inspection
previous to being told off to the boats. The skipper was in his cabin, but a few minutes later--by which time all
the laggards had put in an appearance--he emerged from the companion-way and the inspection at once began,
great attention being given, I noticed, to those who were to go in the boats, to insure that their weapons were
in serviceable order, their pistols loaded, and that each man had his due supply of cartridges. The inspection
CHAPTER THREE. 16
was conducted by the first lieutenant, accompanied by the captain and a sergeant of marines, the latter
carrying a lantern, by the rather dim and uncertain light of which the inspection was made. The moment that
this was over the men who were to participate in the expedition were told off, each to his proper boat, the
boats were lowered and brought to the gangway, and in less than a quarter of an hour from the moment of our
being called we were off.
The expedition consisted of four boats; namely, the gig, the pinnace, and the first and second cutters. The gig
was a very fine, handsome boat, beautifully modelled, and exceedingly fast; she was commanded by the
captain himself, who led the expedition--a sure indication of the important character, in his opinion, of the
impending encounter. She pulled six oars, and in addition to the skipper, my chum, Good, and her crew of
seamen, carried half-a-dozen marines, four in the stern-sheets, and two forward. The pinnace was a big,
roomy, and rather heavy boat, pulling ten oars, double banked, and mounting a nine-pounder gun in her bows.
She was commanded by Mr Michael Ryan, the second lieutenant, a rollicking, high-spirited Irishman, whose
only fault was that he lacked discretion and was utterly reckless; albeit this fault was to a great extent
condoned by the effect of his influence upon the men, who would follow him anywhere. His crew, in addition
to the ten oarsmen and a coxswain, consisted of little Pierrepoint and ten marines, six aft and four forward.
The first and second cutters were sister boats, precisely alike in every respect, each pulling eight oars, double
banked. They were rather smarter boats than the pinnace, being nearly as long but with less beam and
freeboard, and finer lines. The first cutter was commanded by Gowland, the master's mate, and carried, in
addition to her crew of ten men and a coxswain, eight marines. The second cutter was entrusted to me, and
carried the same complement as her consort, the first cutter. It will thus be seen that the expedition numbered
seventy-seven souls in all--nearly the half of our ship's company, in fact--the brig being left in charge of the
first luff, with the master, the purser, the surgeon, young Burdett of the midshipmen's mess, the cook and his
mate, captain's, gun-room, and wardroom stewards, and seventy-eight seamen.
The weather, although favourable enough for such an expedition as that upon which we were engaged--and
which, if our anticipations should prove correct, would depend largely for its success upon our ability to take
the enemy completely by surprise--was decidedly disagreeable; for, as Jerry had reported, it was dark as pitch,
the wind was sweeping athwart the river in savage gusts that roared among the trees with a volume of sound
that rendered it necessary to raise the voice to a loud shout in order to make an order heard from one end of
the boat to the other, and we had scarcely left the ship when it came on to rain with a fury that rendered the
preservation of our ammunition from damage a serious difficulty and a source of keen anxiety. Fortunately for
us, we reached the mouth of the creek a few minutes before the rain began to fall, but for which circumstance
we should, have met with the utmost difficulty in discovering the entrance, and might possibly have lost a
considerable amount of valuable time in the search for it. Even as it was, so intense was the darkness that,
although the creek was only some two hundred yards wide, we found it impossible to keep the boats in the
centre of the channel, and for a little while were constantly running foul of each other or the banks. Luckily
for us, we were no sooner in the creek than its eastern bank afforded us a shelter from the direct violence of
the wind, the bush and trees growing so thickly right down to the water's edge that close inshore we were
completely becalmed; and, thus sheltered, our sense of hearing helped us somewhat despite the deep roar of
the gale overhead, while we quickly caught the knack of steering along the outer edge of the narrow belt of
calm, in this way avoiding to a great extent the difficulties and petty mishaps that had at first so seriously
hampered our movements.
In this way, and exposed all the while to the pelting of the heavy tropical downpour, which quickly drenched
us to the skin in spite of the protection of our oil-skins, we slowly groped our way along the creek with
muffled oars for rather more than an hour, when we unexpectedly found ourselves at the entrance of a fairly
spacious lagoon, in the centre of which we speedily made out not one, but four craft moored right athwart the
channel, completely barring our further passage. From their disposition it looked very much as though they
had been moored with springs upon their cables--for their broadsides were presented fair at us--and, if so, it
argued at least a suspicion on their part of a possible visit from an enemy, with doubtless a corresponding
amount of precaution against the chance of being surprised.
CHAPTER THREE. 17
Scarcely had we made this discovery when the gig, which was leading, found her further progress
unexpectedly interrupted by a boom composed of tree-trunks, secured together with chains, stretching right
across the water-way. As she struck it a loud cry was heard proceeding from the river bank on our starboard
hand, immediately followed by a musket-shot. The next moment a spark of light appeared in the same quarter,
quickly increasing in size and intensity until in less than a minute a large fire, evidently caused by the ignition
of a very considerable quantity of highly combustible material, was blazing fiercely in the shelter of a thick
clump of overhanging bush, that seemed to almost completely shield it from the rain, which, however, had
considerably moderated by this time. The dense mass of bush behind and on either side of the blazing mass
acted in some sort as a reflector, concentrating the light of the fire upon the boom and our four boats clustered
closely together about it, and defining them with very unpleasant distinctness against the background of
impenetrable darkness.
That this was so, and that our projected surprise had proved a lamentable failure, was made clear by the
sounds of commotion and the sharp cries of command that at once arose on board the slavers, almost instantly
followed by a smart and well-directed musketry fire, the bullets from which came dropping about us in very
unpleasant proximity, although, fortunately, nobody was actually hit.
"Separate at once!" cried the skipper, rising in the stern-sheets of the gig as he realised that the time for
silence and secrecy was past; "separate at once; spread yourselves along the boom, and let each boat's crew do
its best to make a passage through it. Try the effect of a shot from your gun upon it, Mr Ryan. Marines, return
the fire of those craft, aiming at the flashes from their pieces. The first boat to force the boom will report the
fact to me before passing through."
We spread well along the boom, maintaining open order, so that we might afford as small a target as possible,
and devoted our energies to breaking through the obstruction at points where the trunks were united by chains;
but we found this by no means an easy matter, staples being driven home through the links into the tenacious
wood so closely together that it was impossible to find a space wide enough to take the loom of an oar--the
only lever at hand, as we had not anticipated or provided for such a contingency. Meanwhile, our adversaries
proved themselves fully alive to the advantage which our situation afforded them, and fully prepared to make
the most of it, for they kept up a brisk though irregular fire of musketry upon us from which we soon began to
suffer rather severely, two of my men being hit within the space of as many minutes, while sharp cries of pain
to our right and left told us that the occupants of the other boats were receiving their full share of the slavers'
attentions. This was only the beginning of the conflict, however, for before our marines had had time to fire
more than thrice in reply to the slavers' musketry fire, five fierce flashes of flame burst simultaneously from
the side of the largest of the four craft, accompanied by the sharp, ringing roar of brass nine-pounder guns,
and instantly a perfect storm of grape tore and whistled about our ears, splintering the planking of the boats
and bowling over our people right and left. Three more of my men went down before that discharge, and the
cries of anguish from the other boats told that they too had suffered nearly or quite as severely. The gig fared
worst of all, however, for an entire charge, apparently, plumped right into her bows, where the men were
clustered pretty thickly, helping two of their comrades who were kneeling upon the boom endeavouring to
tear asunder its fastenings, and no less than six of her crew fell before that withering discharge, including the
two men upon the boom, who both fell into the water, and were never seen again.
"By Jove! this will never do," cried the captain. "Out oars, men, and pull alongside the pinnace!"
This was done; and as the two boats touched, our gallant leader sprang on board the larger of the two, crying
to the second lieutenant--
"Here, Mr Ryan, I will change places with you. Take the gig, if you please, and see if you can cast the boom
adrift at its shore end; I will look after matters here meanwhile. Mr Gowland, go you to the other end of the
boom, and see what you can do there. Now then, lads, what is the best news there with that gun?"
CHAPTER THREE. 18
"Just ready, sir," came the answer. "Poor Jim Baker was struck, and fell athwart the breech, wettin' the primin'
with his blood just as we was about to fire, so we've had to renew it; but we're ready now, sir."
"Very well," cried the skipper. "Bear the boat off from the boom, and fire at the chain-coupling; that ought to
do the business for us."
The order was promptly obeyed, and a few seconds later the gun spoke out, the shot hitting fair and square,
and dividing the two parts of the chain that formed the coupling between two contiguous tree-trunks. A loud
hurrah proclaimed this result, yet when the pinnace pulled up to the boom again, and tried to force her way
through, it was found that the logs could not be forced apart; evidently they were still united under water.
"Load the gun again, lads, as smartly as you can," exclaimed the skipper; "and then we must try to roll the
logs over, and get the chains above water. Well, what news, Mr Gowland?" as the first cutter was seen
approaching us.
"It's no good, sir," answered Gowland. "We can't get within twenty yards of dry ground for the mud, which is
too stiff to permit of our forcing the boat through it, but not stiff enough to support a man. I made the attempt,
and went in up to my arm-pits before they could get hold of me to pull me out."
Meanwhile, a hot fire of grape and musketry--the latter from all four of the craft--was being maintained upon
us; our men were falling fast; and the matter to my mind began to look very serious. Still, those who were not
hurt, or whose hurts were not very severe, worked away manfully in an endeavour to break the boom; but it
was clear--to me at least--that our only hope lay in the pinnace's gun. If that failed, it seemed probable that
every man of us would be placed hors de combat before we could force a passage through.
Our nine-pounder was soon ready again; and then--Gowland and I having meanwhile stationed our respective
boats one on each side of the pinnace, and by the united efforts of our crews succeeded in rolling the logs so
far over as to bring the remaining pair of coupling chains out of the water--a second effort was made to divide
the boom. The shot was a successful one, both chains being completely cut through. Another ringing cheer
proclaimed the good news just as the gig rejoined us with a similar piece of intelligence to that already
brought by Gowland, as to the impossibility of landing and getting at the shore-fasts of the boom. That
obstacle was now, however, happily severed, and drawing his sword, the skipper waved it over his head as he
shouted--
"Out oars, men, and give way for your lives! Follow me, the rest of the boats. We will tackle the big fellow
first, and bring the other three to their senses afterwards with the aid of her guns."
The words were scarcely out of his mouth when another broadside of grape hurtled in among us, now once
more huddled closely together about the breach in that deadly boom, and from the dreadful outcry that
immediately arose, the tossing of arms aloft, and the dropping of oars, it was evident that fearful havoc had
been wrought by it among our already seriously diminished company. And, to make matters worse, it was
instantly followed by a louder, deeper report, and a crash on board the pinnace as an eighteen-pound shot
struck her gun fair upon its starboard trunnion, dismounting the piece and sending it overboard, while a
shower of splinters of wood and metal flew from the slide, wounding and maiming at least four more men.
And then, as though that were not enough, the shot glanced and swept the boat fore and aft, crushing in the
side of one poor fellow's head like an egg-shell, smashing in the ribs of another, and whipping the captain's
sword out of his hand, with all four of his fingers, as it flew over his head into the darkness beyond.
In the teeth of this new disaster the pinnace forced her way through the now divided boom, closely followed
by Ryan in the gig, then myself, with Gowland bringing up the rear. "Give way for your lives!" was now the
word; and at racing pace--or as near it as we could get with our sadly diminished crews--we headed for the
biggest craft of the four, which we now made out to be a large brig, very heavily rigged and with immensely
CHAPTER THREE. 19
square yards. We opened out a little to port and starboard as we went, in order that we might show as small a
mark as possible for our antagonists to fire at, and, having already passed the heavy pinnace, I was fast
creeping up into the leading position, when Ryan, who saw what I was after, sheered alongside and in sharp,
terse language ordered me to change places with him. Of course I could but obey, and the fiery Irishman,
finding himself in the best-manned boat of the lot, speedily passed ahead, despite the utmost efforts of the rest
of us to keep pace with him. One more broadside of grape greeted us as we pushed somewhat heavily across
the lagoon, and that put the poor unfortunate gig practically out of the combat, for it reduced her oarsmen to
two, while she had already been so badly knocked about that it needed the utmost efforts of the least severely
wounded of her crew to keep her afloat by baling. We kept on, however, in the wake of the other boats, and
had at least a good view of the short, sharp fight that followed. The brig was lying with her starboard
broadside presented to us, and as the boats advanced toward her they gradually passed out of the broad line of
light cast by the still fiercely blazing fire that had been kindled on the shore. No sooner did this happen,
however, than half-a-dozen men provided with port-fires sprang, three into her main and three into her fore
port rigging, illumining the brig herself brilliantly, it is true, but at the same time revealing the whereabouts of
our boats distinctly enough to enable her people to keep up a most galling pistol and musketry fire upon us,
besides giving them the advantage that the light was at their backs, while it shone in the faces of our marines
with such dazzling effect that they were able to reply but ineffectively to the fire with their own muskets.
The second lieutenant was first alongside, closely followed by Gowland, the pinnace making a bad third and
ranging up under the bows of the brig, while the other boats attempted to board her in the waist. But the
brig--and the three schooners as well for that matter--was well protected by boarding nettings triced up fore
and aft, and as our men made a dash at her they were met by pikes thrust at them out through the ports, by the
snapping of pistols in their faces, and the fierce lunge of cutlasses through the meshes of the netting.
Nevertheless they persevered gallantly, hacking away at the netting with their cutlasses, and occasionally
delivering a thrust through it at any one who happened to come within arm's-length of them. But it was clearly
a losing game; our losses had been so heavy during our attack upon the boom that we were already far
out-numbered by the crew of the brig alone, and they possessed a further important advantage over us in that
they fought upon a spacious level deck, while our lads were obliged to cling to the bulwarks as best they could
with one hand while they wielded their weapons with the other; moreover, the slavers were able to make a
tolerably effective use of their pikes and still keep beyond the reach of our cutlasses.
"If it were not for that diabolical netting," thought I, "there would be some chance for us still." And as we
ranged laboriously up alongside, my eye travelled up the face of the obstruction to its upper edge, and I saw
that it was suspended at four points only, two on the port and two on the starboard side, in the wake of the
main and foremasts.
"A sharp knife," thought I, "ought to divide each of those tricing-lines at a single stroke, when down would go
the net upon the defenders' heads and hamper their movements long enough to give our people a chance." And
then I remembered that only a day or two before I had sharpened my own stout clasp-knife--at that moment
hung about my neck on a lanyard-- to almost a razor edge, and that consequently I had in my possession just
the weapon for the purpose.
As my meditations reached this point the gig touched the brig's side, and whipping out my knife and opening
it, I made one spring from the boat's gunwale into the netting, up which I at once swarmed with all the agility
I could muster--and I was fairly active in those days, let me tell you--a musket-shot knocking my cap off as
my head rose above the level of the bulwarks, while a moment later a fellow made a lunge at me with his pike
as I skipped up the meshes, and drove its head half through the calf of my left leg. I felt the wound, of course,
but was at the moment much too excited and intent upon the task which I had set myself to give it a second
thought, and in another instant, so it seemed to me, I had reached the tricing line, which I grasped tightly with
one hand while I hacked away vigorously with the other. The rope parted at the third stroke of the knife, and
down dropped the net, sagging so much in the wake of the main-rigging that our lads were easily able to
surmount the obstacle, and I saw Ryan, with a wild, exultant "Hurroo!" half fall, half leap down to the brig's
CHAPTER THREE. 20
deck, where he laid about him so ferociously with fist and cutlass that he at once cleared a space around
himself for his followers.
As for me, I was left dangling by one hand at the bare end of the severed tricing line, but within easy reach of
the starboard main-topsail sheet, which I promptly grasped and began to lower myself hand over hand down
to the deck. Even as I glided down the sheet, I saw that one of our lads had followed my example, and, cutting
the fore tricing line, had let the whole of the starboard netting down on deck, while his comrades were pouring
in over the bulwarks like an avalanche. The brig's crew still offered a gallant resistance, but the British blood
was by this time fairly at boiling point, and, grimly silent, the blue-jackets laid about them in such terrible
earnest with fist and cutlass, belaying-pin, clubbed musket, sponge, rammer, or any other effective weapon
that they could lay hands upon, that their rush became irresistible, and their antagonists gave way before them
in terror.
At this juncture, and while I was still some twelve or fourteen feet above the deck, I noticed a man, whose
dress and appearance suggested to me the idea that he might possibly be the leader of this band of outlaws,
quietly separate himself from the combatants, and with a certain sly, secretive manner, as though he were
desirous of avoiding observation, slink along the deck to the companion, down which he suddenly vanished.
There was an indescribable something about the air and movements of this fellow that powerfully aroused my
curiosity and excited an irresistible impulse within me to follow him; and accordingly, swinging myself to the
deck abaft the main-mast, which was deserted, the fight still being confined to the waist and forecastle of the
brig, I made a dart for the companion, kicked off my shoes before entering, animated by some instinct or idea
which I did not stop to analyse at the moment, and drawing my cutlass from its sheath, crept cautiously and
noiselessly down the companion-ladder. The moment that I entered the companion-way I was saluted by a
whiff of moist, hot air loaded with a powerful, foetid, musky odour, of which I had already become vaguely
conscious, accompanied by a deep, murmuring sound that seemed to proceed from the vessel's hold; and
although this was my first experience with slavers, I knew in an instant that the brig had her human cargo on
board, and that the sound and the odour proceeded from it.
The companion-way was in complete darkness, but at the foot of the ladder, and to starboard of it, there was a
thin, horizontal line of dim light marking the presence of a door that I had heard slam-to as I kicked off my
shoes previous to descending. Making for this, I groped for the door-handle, found it, and, grasping it firmly,
suddenly turned it and flung the door open. As I did so I found myself standing at the entrance to a fine,
roomy cabin, which seemed to be handsomely, nay, luxuriously furnished. It was but dimly illuminated,
however, the only light proceeding from an ordinary horn lantern, which, kneeling upon the deck, the man I
had followed was holding open with one hand, while with the other he was applying the end of a slender black
cord to the flame of the enclosed candle. The other end of the cord referred to led down an open hatchway
close to the fore-bulkhead of the cabin; and as I took in the whole scene in a single comprehensive glance--the
open hatchway, the black cord, and the dimly-burning lantern--I realised with lightning intuitiveness that
every soul on board the brig was tottering upon the very brink of eternity; the reckless villain before me was
in the very act of exploding the powder magazine, and blowing the ship and all she contained into the air.
This surmise was confirmed as, turning his head at the sound of the opening door, the fellow withdrew from
the lantern the end of the black cord--which was of course a length of fuse composed of spun-yarn well coated
with damp powder, now fizzing and spluttering and smoking as the fire swiftly travelled along it. So rapidly
did the fire travel indeed, that during the second or so that the desperado paused in surprise at my unexpected
appearance, it reached his fingers, causing him to drop it to the deck with a muttered curse. I knew that in
twenty or thirty seconds at most that hissing train of fire would run along the guiding line of the fuse down the
hatchway to the powder in which the other end of it was certain to be buried; and bounding forward I placed
one foot upon the blazing fuse as I dealt a heavy downward stroke with the hilt of my cutlass upon the
upturned temple of the man who, crouching before me, was clearly on the point of springing to his feet. Then,
dashing down my cutlass as the fellow sank back with a groan upon the deck, I wrenched my still open knife
from my neck, and, while the struggling flame scorched and seared the sole of my naked foot, slashed the
CHAPTER THREE. 21
blade quickly through the fuse, and with the same movement whirled the severed and unlighted part as far
away from me as possible. This done, I knew that the danger was past; and, drawing the short burning
fragment of fuse from beneath my foot, I carefully deposited it in the lantern, where it instantly flamed itself
harmlessly away. My next act was to secure the remainder of the fuse and cautiously withdraw it from the
dark hatchway down which it led; and, this safely accomplished, I closed the aperture by drawing over the
hatch, and then sat down to nurse my seared and blistered foot and to await the progress of events; my
companion or adversary, or whatever he should be rightly called, still lying motionless where he had fallen,
with a large blue lump on his white temple from which a thin stream of blood slowly oozed.
During the few brief seconds that had elapsed between my entrance into the cabin and the flinging of myself
upon one of its sofas, I had lost all cognisance of what was happening elsewhere; but as I took my scorched
foot upon my knee and ruefully contemplated its injuries, I once more became aware of the sounds of conflict
on deck; the fierce, confused stamping of many feet; the cries and ejaculations of encouragement or dismay;
the quick jar and clash of blade upon blade; the occasional explosion of a pistol; the dull, crushing sound of
unwarded blows; the sharp scream of agony as some poor wretch felt the stroke of the merciless steel; the
cries and groans of those who had been smitten down, and, still conscious, were being trampled underfoot by
the combatants; the deep muttered curse; the sharp word of command; and the occasional cheer that broke
from the lips of our own gallant lads. Suddenly there was a louder hurrah, a quick scurrying rush, a loud shout
of command in Spanish for every man to save himself, an outcry of terrified ejaculations in the same tongue, a
quick succession of splashes in the water alongside, and a sudden silence, broken the next instant by a gasping
but triumphant shout from Ryan of--
"Hurroo, bhoys! By the blessed--Saint--Pathrick--but--that's nately done! Ugh!--pouff!--we've--drove
them--clane overboard! Murther! but it's meltin' I am--and as dhry--as a limekiln!"
CHAPTER FOUR. 22
CHAPTER FOUR.
CHANGO CREEK.
Then I heard the skipper hailing, apparently from the forecastle--
"Is that Mr Ryan's voice that I hear, aft there?"
"Ay, ay, sorr," answered the second luff; "it's myself, bedad, all that's left ov me!"
A sound of footsteps followed, suggesting that he had walked away forward to join his superior; but as the
man at my feet just then stirred uneasily, as though his senses were returning to him, I made a quick grab at
my cutlass, and drawing from my belt a loaded pistol, the existence of which I had until then forgotten, I
pulled myself together and made ready for the next emergency.
Presently, my prisoner, for such he now was, stirred again, sighed deeply, and opened his eyes, his glance
immediately falling upon me. For a few seconds he seemed not to know where he was, or what had happened;
then, as we gazed into each other's eyes, I saw that his memory had returned to him, and as he made a motion
to rise to his feet, I sprang to mine, and pointing my pistol straight at his head, said in the best Spanish that I
could muster--
"Stay where you are! If you make the slightest attempt to move I will blow your brains out, you villain!"
He continued to gaze steadfastly at me for some moments; and then seeing, I suppose, that I fully meant what
I said, he smiled bitterly and muttered--
"So it has come to this, has it, that I must lie here in my own cabin, helpless, at the mercy of a mere boy?
Car-r-am-ba!"
He still kept his regards steadfastly fixed upon me; and as I seemed to read in the expression of his eyes a
dawning determination to make at least one more effort for freedom, I was not sorry to hear footsteps coming
along the deck, and the voices of the skipper and Ryan in earnest conversation.
"We must get a light from somewhere at once, and look to the wounded without a moment's delay," said the
former. "I fear that our loss has been very serious in this affair. Ah! there is a faint glimmer of light from the
skylight yonder; I will go below and see what it is. Meanwhile, Mr Ryan, muster your men, and load the guns,
if you can lay your hand upon any ammunition. Those schooners will try to slip away if they can, now that we
have got the brig; but I shall not be satisfied unless I can secure the whole of them; we must have something
more than we have got already to account satisfactorily for our loss!"
"Niver fear, sorr," answered the second luff; "they'll not get away from--By all the powers though, there goes
one of thim now!"
And away he dashed forward again, shouting out certain orders to the men, while the skipper, after hesitating
for a few seconds, entered the companion and began to descend.
My attention had been somewhat distracted from my prisoner by this brief conversation, a fact which had
evidently not passed unnoticed by him, for before I fully realised what was happening, he had in some
inexplicable manner sprung to his feet with a single, lightning-like movement, and his hand was already upon
my left wrist, when with a quick twist of the arm I managed to get my pistol-barrel pointed at him as I pressed
the trigger. There was a bright flash, lighting up the whole cabin as though by a gleam of lightning, and
glancing vividly from the rolling eyeballs of my antagonist, a sharp explosion, and the Spaniard went reeling
CHAPTER FOUR. 23
backward with a crash upon one of the sofas as the captain entered the cabin at a bound.
"Hillo!" he exclaimed, as he peered at me in the faint light of the lantern, "who are you, and what is the matter
here? Why--bless me!--it is Mr Dugdale, isn't it? And pray who is that man on the sofa?"
In a few brief words I narrated my adventure, to which he listened quietly, holding his wounded hand, bound
up in a handkerchief, in the other meanwhile; and when I had finished, he glanced at the prostrate figure on
the sofa and said, noticing the ghastly paleness of the upturned face, and the lifelessness of the outstretched
limbs--
"Well, he looks as though there was not much mischief left in him now, at all events. But it will not do to take
any risks; he is evidently a desperate character, or was before you pinked him, so slip up on deck and get a
length of line--a bit off one of the topgallant-braces will do if you can't find anything better--to make him fast
with. And call a couple of hands to come below and carry him on deck; it is scarcely safe to leave such a
fellow alone in the cabin, even when securely bound."
I hobbled on deck as well as my burnt foot--which by this time was excruciatingly painful--would permit, and
finding a suitable bit of line, and securing the assistance of two of our lads, the slave-captain, as he eventually
proved to be, was speedily bound hand and foot, conveyed on deck, and propped up in a reclining position
against the bulwarks, well aft out of the way, in such a position as seemed least likely to encourage the
bleeding of his wound.
Meanwhile, Ryan, upon leaving the skipper, had rushed forward and hailed the fugitive schooner, in his
richest Dublin accent, to heave-to, or he would sink her. To this command, however, whether understood or
not, no attention was paid; and before our people, groping about in the thick darkness among the dead and
wounded, could lay their hands upon a single cartridge, they had the mortification of seeing her vanish round
a bend of the creek on her way seaward, the lieutenant consoling himself with the assurance that she would
infallibly be snapped up by the Barracouta, whose slender crew would be certain to be on the alert all through
the night. When the skipper and I arrived on deck, after securing our prisoner, Ryan and a few of our lads
were busily employed ramming home a charge in the long eighteen mounted upon the brig's forecastle, a
cartridge and shot for which they had stumbled across in their search. The second luff at once began to relate,
with many comical expressions of righteous indignation, the particulars of the schooner's escape; but he had
scarcely got well into his narrative when the faint screep of a block-sheave from to windward warned us that
another of our slippery neighbours was about to hazard a like experiment. Without waiting for orders, or
thinking of what I was doing, forgetting even my injured foot in the excitement of the moment, I sprang upon
the rail and hailed in Spanish--
"Hola there, keep all fast on board those schooners, or we will riddle you with grape! And light a lantern each
of you and hoist it to your main-mast-head. I warn you that we will stand no nonsense, so if you value your
lives you will attempt to play no tricks!"
To this no reply whatever was vouchsafed; and I was about to hail again, when the captain remarked, very
quietly--
"May I inquire, Mr Dugdale, what is the nature of the communication-- the unauthorised communication--that
you have just made to those schooners?"
"I beg your pardon, sir," answered I, considerably abashed; "I thought I heard a sound just now as though
another of the schooners were on the point of attempting to slip away; so I hailed them that if they attempted
any such trick we would treat them to a dose of grape. I also ordered them to each hoist a lantern to the
mast-head, so that we may see where they are."
CHAPTER FOUR. 24
"Very good," remarked the skipper suavely; "it was quite the proper thing to do. But I do not altogether
approve of my young gentlemen taking the initiative in any matter unless they happen to be for the time being
in supreme command. When that is not the case I expect them to wait for instructions. And now, be so good as
to hail them again, and say that unless those lanterns are displayed within three minutes I will fire into them."
My second hail proved effective, the two lanterns being in position well within the time specified. Our skipper
was, however, very uneasy; and after retiring aft and consulting with Ryan for a few minutes, the second luff
and Gowland went away in the first and second cutters with two good strong crews, and boarded the
schooners, the slavers--who were evidently on the look-out--shoving off in their own boats and escaping to
the shore the moment that they detected what we were after. Both schooners had a cargo of slaves on board,
and were of course at once taken possession of, an instant search--prompted by our experience on board the
brig--revealing the fact that one of them had been set fire to so effectually that it took the prize-crew fully an
hour to extinguish it.
Meanwhile, lamps and lanterns were found on board the brig and lighted, when those of us whose hurts were
the least serious set to work to attend to our more unfortunate comrades. Closer investigation now revealed the
welcome fact that we had suffered less severely than had been at first anticipated, our killed amounting to five
only--although two more died before they could receive proper surgical attention-- while, of the wounded,
seven had received injuries serious enough to completely disable them, the rest, amounting to no less than
twenty-three, suffering from hurts ranging from such an insignificant prod as I had received in the leg, up to a
cutlass-stroke that had all but scalped one poor fellow.
At length, just as we had completed the task of getting our worst cases below out of the persistent rain, and
making them in a measure comfortable, the wind shifted and subsided to a gentle breeze from the
north-eastward, the weather cleared, the rain ceased, and about half-an-hour later the day broke gloriously,
and we were able to get a view of our surroundings.
We found ourselves in a nearly circular lagoon or basin, about half-a-mile in diameter, across the centre of
which lay moored the brig and the two schooners, with a gap in the line to mark the berth that had been
occupied by the third schooner--the craft that had succeeded in effecting her escape. We were completely
land-locked, the shores of the creek being low, and for the most part closely fringed with mangroves, behind
which rose dense and apparently impenetrable masses of bush, now in full leaf, and thickly overgrown with
flowering parasites, the bush being interspersed with trees of several kinds, some of which were very lofty and
handsome. At a short distance above where we were lying, there appeared to be another creek--a small affair,
not more than a hundred feet wide--branching off from the main channel; and, upon its being pointed out to
him, the captain at once hailed the schooner of which the second lieutenant was in possession, directing that
the latter should take his boat, with the crew well armed, and make an exploration of the subsidiary and main
creeks for a short distance, for the purpose of ascertaining whether, as was exceedingly probable, there was a
slave depot in the neighbourhood. I should greatly have liked to have made one of the party, and indeed asked
permission to join it, but my burnt foot was by this time so inflamed and painful that I could not put it to the
deck, and Captain Stopford, while expressing his gratification at the zeal manifested by the request, refused,
pointing out that, lame as I was, I should not only be useless but an actual encumbrance and embarrassment to
the party in the event of resistance being offered to any attempt on their part to land.
In a few minutes Ryan was ready, and the boat shoved off from the schooner, leaving just enough hands to
take care of her during the absence of the others. She made straight for the small subsidiary creek, in the first
instance, but re-appeared in about a quarter of an hour, when the second luff hailed to say that it was a mere
cul de sac, only some half-a-mile long, and with very little water in it, the banks being of soft, black, foetid
mud, of a consistency which rendered landing an impossibility. Having communicated this intelligence, the
cutter next proceeded up stream and quickly vanished round a bend. She had been out of sight fully
half-an-hour, and the captain was just beginning to manifest some anxiety, neither sight nor sound having
reached us to indicate her whereabouts, when thin wreaths of light brown smoke appeared rising above the
CHAPTER FOUR. 25
bush and trees about a mile away, the smoke rapidly increasing in density and volume, and darkening in
colour, until it became quite apparent that a serious conflagration was raging at no great distance. When the
smoke at first appeared, there was some question in the mind of the captain whether it might not be the work
of the people who had effected their escape from the craft during the darkness, they having perhaps set fire to
the bush in the hope of involving the prizes and ourselves in the ensuing destruction; but a little reflection
revealed the unlikelihood of this, the vegetation not only being saturated with the rain that had fallen during
the night, but also being so green and full of sap that it would probably prove impossible to fire it. We had just
reached this conclusion when Ryan and his party appeared returning, and in a few minutes the cutter ranged
up alongside us to enable the second luff to make his report. He stated that he had proceeded about a mile and
a half up the creek, the course of which he had found to be very sinuous, when he reached a spot at which the
bank on his port hand was clear of bush and trees, with the soil firm enough to admit of a landing being
conveniently effected, and as there were signs indicating that the place had been very freely used quite
recently, he shoved alongside the bank and stepped ashore. A single glance about him now sufficed to
convince him that he had made an important discovery; the grass was much worn, as with the trampling of
many feet, and from this well-trodden spot a broad path led into the bush. Leaving two men in the boat; to
take care of her, with orders how to proceed in the event of an enemy heaving in sight, Ryan at once led his
party along this path, and after traversing it for less than a hundred yards, came upon a large barracoon, very
solidly and substantially built, and of dimensions sufficient to accommodate fully a thousand slaves; there
were also kitchens for the preparation of the slaves' food, tanks for the collection of fresh water, several large
thatched huts that looked as if they were for the accommodation of the traders, a large store building, and, in
short, everything necessary to complete an important slave-trading establishment. It was evident that it had
been very hurriedly abandoned only a few hours previously; but a strict and prolonged search failed to reveal
the whereabouts of any of its late occupants; Ryan had therefore first emptied the water-tanks, and had then
set fire to the whole establishment, remaining until the flames had taken a strong hold upon the several
buildings, when he had retired without molestation.
Meanwhile, by the captain's orders, the hatches had been removed on board the three prizes, and the condition
of the unfortunate prisoners looked to. I shall never forget the moment when the first hatch was taken off on
board the brig; a thick cloud of steam slowly rose up through the opening, and the foetid, musky odour, of
which I have already spoken, at once became so pungent and overpowering that the men who were engaged
upon the operation of opening the hatchways were fairly driven away from their work for the moment, and
until the strength of the stench had been to some extent ameliorated by the fresh air that immediately poured
down into the densely-packed hold. What the relief of that whiff of fresh air must have been to the unhappy
blacks can only be faintly imagined; but that it was ineffably grateful to them was evidenced by the deep
murmur of delight, and the loud, long-drawn inspiration of the breath that swept from end to end of the hold
the moment that the hatch was withdrawn, as well as by the upward glance of gratitude that instantly greeted
us from the upturned eyes of those who were placed nearest the hatchway! But what a sight that hold
presented when in the course of a few minutes the hatches were all removed, and the blessed light of heaven
and the sweet, pure air of the early morning had gained free access to its sweltering occupants, dispersing the
poisonous fumes which they had been condemned to breathe from the moment when the approach of our
boats had been first notified! I had more than once had the hold of a slaver and the mode of stowing her
human cargo described to me, but it was necessary to actually see it before the full horror and misery of the
thing could be completely realised. The space between the planking of the slave-deck and the underside of the
beams was just three feet, or barely sufficient to allow the unfortunate wretches to sit upright; and in this
confined space they were stowed as tightly as herrings in a barrel, seated on their hams, with the feet drawn
close up to the body, and the knees clasped by the arms close to the chest. Let anyone try the fatiguing effect
of sitting in this constrained attitude for only a single half-hour, and some idea may then be formed of the
horrible suffering and misery that the unhappy slaves had to endure cooped up in this fashion for weeks at a
stretch, not on a steady, motionless platform, but on the heaving, plunging deck of a ship driven at her utmost
speed over a sea that was seldom smooth enough to render the motion imperceptible, and often rough enough
to sweep her from stem to stern, and to render the closing of the hatches imperatively necessary to save her
from foundering. Add to this the fact that the slaves were packed so tightly together that it was impossible to
CHAPTER FOUR. 26
move, and thus obtain the relief of even a slight change of position; bear in mind that it was equally
impossible to cleanse the slave-deck during the entire period of the passage of the ship from port to port; think
of the indescribable foulness of the place, the dreadful atmosphere generated by the ever-accumulating filth,
and the exhalations from the bodies of four or five hundred human beings wedged together in this confined
space; and add to all this the horrors of sea-sickness, and it at once becomes a perfect marvel that a sufficient
number remained alive at the end of the passage to render the slave-traffic a remunerative business. It is true
that, solely in their own interests, and not in the least from motives of humanity, the slavers exercised a certain
amount of care and watchfulness over the health of their captives; that is to say, they allowed one-half to go
on deck during meal-times (twice a day), for the double purpose of affording an opportunity for the inspiration
of a little fresh air, and at the same time of providing space for the poor wretches below to feed themselves.
This, however, was only when the weather and other circumstances were favourable; if the weather was bad,
the hatches were put on and kept on until a favourable change occurred; and in the case of a gale, of wind the
unhappy slaves have been known to have been kept without food or water for forty-eight hours, or even
longer, simply because it was impossible to give them either. Of course in such a case the mortality was
simply frightful, it being no uncommon occurrence for a slaver to lose more than half her cargo in a single
gale; this loss, be it understood, arising not so much from the want of food as from simple suffocation through
long confinement in the dreadful atmosphere of the unventilated hold. And when a slaver happened to be
pursued by a man-o'-war, the sufferings of the slaves were almost as bad, for in such a case the crew seldom
troubled themselves to attend to the wants of their helpless prisoners, devoting all their thoughts and energies
to the task of effecting their own escape. But as I shall have more to say upon this subject further on, I will not
enlarge upon it here.
Ryan having rejoined his prize, and there being a nice little easterly breeze blowing, the order was given for
all three craft to weigh and proceed down the creek; the captain being rather anxious lest the slavers should
return and take us at a disadvantage now that our force was divided. Nothing untoward occurred, however,
and in a short time we were all proceeding down the creek, with the second lieutenant in his schooner as pilot.
And here it may be as well to enumerate the few particulars relative to our prizes that the exigencies of the
narrative have hitherto not enabled me to give. To begin with the brig: she was, as Lobo had stated, the
Mercedes of Havana; a truly beautiful craft, measuring fully five hundred tons, very flat in the floor, and so
exceedingly shallow that even in her sea-going trim, with everything on board as when we took her, she only
drew a trifle over eight feet of water aft. But what she lacked in depth she more than made up for in beam, her
deck being half as spacious again as that of the Barracouta. She was a perfectly lovely model, and sailed like
a witch, as we soon discovered. This was not to be wondered at, however, for in addition to the beautiful, easy
grace of her flowing lines, her scantling was extraordinarily light--less than half that of the Barracouta--and
all her chief fastenings were screws! With so light a scantling she of course worked like a wicker basket in
anything of a breeze and seaway, and leaked like a sieve, the latter being of little or no consequence with
plenty of negroes to send to the pumps in relays, while the working of her gave her life, and contributed in no
small degree toward the extraordinary speed for which she was distinguished. She was armed with eight
nine-pounder broadside guns, and a long eighteen mounted upon a pivot on her forecastle; and in the course of
our investigations we discovered that her crew had numbered no less than seventy men, of whom fourteen
were killed in her defence, and twenty-six too severely wounded to effect their escape. At the moment of her
capture five hundred and sixty-four slaves, all males, were confined in her hold. She was thus, in herself, a
very valuable prize, and quite worth all the trouble that we had taken to secure her. But in addition to her there
were the two schooners, the larger of which, named the Dona Hermosa, was a vessel of close upon one
hundred and twenty tons measurement, with nothing very remarkable about her appearance to distinguish her
from a perfectly honest trader. Her cargo consisted of exactly three hundred slaves, rather more than half of
whom were women and children. She was unarmed save for the few muskets that were found scattered about
her decks when our lads boarded and took possession of her. The second schooner, of which Gowland, the
master's mate, had temporary command, was a little beauty. She was named the Felicidad, and hailed from
Santiago de Cuba. She was of one hundred and eighteen tons measurement, and in model generally very much
resembled the Mercedes though neither quite so shallow nor so beamy in proportion, while her proportionate
CHAPTER FOUR. 27
length was considerably greater; her lines were therefore even more easy and beautiful than those of the larger
vessel. She sat very low in the water, and might have been sworn to as a slaver as far away as she could be
seen, her raking masts being short and stout, and her yards of enormous proportionate length--her foreyard
measuring no less than seventy-eight feet--with a truly astonishing spread of beautifully cut canvas. In light
winds and smooth water she developed a speed that was absolutely phenomenal, easily running away from her
two consorts on the passage down the creek under her flying jib and main sail only. She was pierced for three
guns of a side, and was further fitted with a very ingenious arrangement for mounting a gun on a pivot
amidships, and at the same time shifting it a few feet to port or starboard so as to permit of its being fired
directly ahead or astern clear of the masts. None of her guns, however, were mounted at the time of her
capture, they afterwards being found stowed below at the very bottom of her hold in a space left for them
among her water-leaguers, from which they could easily be raised on deck when required. Like her consorts,
she had on board a full cargo of slaves--numbering two hundred and forty, of whom about one-fourth were
women and children--when captured.
Our passage up the creek having been effected in the intense darkness of an overcast and rainy night, it had of
course been quite impossible for us to form any conception of the appearance of our surroundings; but now, in
the broad daylight and clear atmosphere of a fresh and brilliant morning, every detail of the scene in the midst
of which we found ourselves stood out with the most vivid distinctness, and I was not only astonished but
delighted with the singularity and beauty of Nature's handiwork that everywhere met my eye in this region of
tropical luxuriance. The three craft were the only evidences of man's intrusion upon the scene with which we
were confronted; everything else was the work of Nature herself, untrammelled and uninterfered with; and it
appeared as though in the riotous delight of her creative powers she had put forth all her energies in the
production of strange and curious shapes and bewildering combinations of the richest and most dazzling
colours. True, the water of the creek, which in consequence of the sheltering height of the bordering
vegetation was glassy smooth, was so fully charged with mud and soil held in suspension that it resembled
chocolate rather than water; but its rich brown colour added to rather than detracted from the beauty of the
picture, harmonising subtly with the brilliant greens, deep olives, and splendid purples of the foliage, and the
dazzling white, yellow, scarlet, crimson, and blue of the trailing blossoms that were reflected from its polished
surface, as well as the delicate blue of the sky into which it merged at a short distance from the vessels.
Mangroves with their multitudinous and curiously twisted and gnarled roots and delicate grey-green foliage
lined the margin of the creek on either hand, and behind them rose tall, feathery clumps of bamboo alternating
with impenetrable thickets of bush, the foliage of which was of the most variegated colours and curious forms,
beyond which again rose the umbrageous masses of lofty trees, several of which were clothed with blossoms
of pure scarlet instead of leaves, while over all trailed the serpentine convolutions of gorgeous flowering
creepers. Euphorbias, acacias, baobabs, all were in blossom, and the fresh morning air was laden with
delicious and almost overpoweringly fragrant perfume. Wherever a slight break in the continuity of the
mangrove belt permitted the river bank itself to be seen, the margin of the water was ablaze with tall orchids,
whose eccentricities of form were matched only by their unsurpassable beauty of colouring; and even the tall,
luxuriant grasses contributed their quota to the all-pervading loveliness of the scene by the delicate purple
tints of their stamens; while the curious, pendent nests of the weaver-bird, hanging here and there from the
longer and coarser grass-stalks curving over the water, added a further element of strangeness and singularity
to the picture. Brilliant-plumaged birds flashed hither and thither; kingfishers of all sizes perched solemnly
upon the roots and overhanging branches of the mangroves, intently watching the surface of the muddy water
for the tiny ripple that should betray the presence of their prey, or flitted low athwart the placid, shining
surface of the creek; bright-coloured parrots were seen clawing their way about the trunks of the more lofty
trees, or winging their flight fussily with loud screams from branch to branch; the cooing of pigeons was
heard in every direction; and high overhead, a small black spot against the deep, brilliant blue of the sky,
marked the presence of a fishing eagle on the look-out for his breakfast.
In less than half-an-hour we had traversed the distance to the mouth of the creek, just before reaching which
we were astonished to discover the Barracouta hard and fast upon a sand-bank that lay just off the entrance,
with her topgallant-masts struck, and her remaining boats in the water, apparently engaged in the task of
CHAPTER FOUR. 28
lightening her. The captain looked terribly annoyed, but said nothing until we had rounded the last point and
come to an anchor near the spot at which we had left the Barracouta on the previous night, when he ordered
the gig to be hauled alongside, and, directing me to accompany him, gave the word for us to pull to the
stranded craft.
CHAPTER FIVE. 29
CHAPTER FIVE.
THE `FELICIDAD'.
The first lieutenant, looking exceedingly worried and distressed, was at the gangway to meet us.
"Well, Mr Young," exclaimed the captain as he stepped in on deck, "what is the meaning of this?"
"I wish I could tell you, sir," answered Young. "There has been foul play of some sort; but who is the guilty
party I know no more than you do. As you will remember, it blew very hard last night when you left us; and
for some time after you had gone I remained on the forecastle, watching the ship as she rode to her anchor.
She strained a little at her cable when the heavier puffs struck her, but by no means to such an extent as to
arouse the slightest anxiety; and after I had been watching for fully an hour, finding that the holding ground
was good, and that even during the heaviest of the puffs the strain upon the cable was only very moderate, I
felt perfectly satisfied as to the safety of the ship, and retired to the quarter-deck, leaving two men on the
look-out on the forecastle, two in the waist, and one on either quarter; for although I anticipated no danger, I
was fully alive to the responsibility that you had laid upon me in entrusting me with the care of the ship, as
well as to the fact that in the event of a chance encounter just hereabout, we were far more likely to meet with
an enemy than a friend. The same feeling animated the men too, I am sure, for the look-outs never responded
to my hail with more alacrity, or showed themselves more keenly watchful than they did last night; yet I had
barely been off the forecastle half-an-hour when we discovered that we were adrift; and before I could let go
the second anchor we were hard and fast upon this bank, fore and aft, and that, too, just upon the top of
high-water. I of course at once hoisted out our remaining boats, and ran away the stream-anchor to windward;
but, working as we were in the dark, it took us a long time to do it; and I then sent down the royal and
topgallant-- yards and masts. When daylight came I examined the cable, thinking that possibly it might have
chafed through on a rock; but to my surprise I found that it had been clean cut at the water's edge. How it was
done, or who did it, is impossible to guess, for although I have very strictly questioned both the forecastle
look-outs, they persist in the statement that they saw nothing, and were aware of nothing until the ship was
found to be adrift."
"Well, it is a most extraordinary circumstance," commented the captain. "Are you quite satisfied that the men
remained fully on the alert all the time?"
"Perfectly, sir," answered the lieutenant. "I hailed them every ten minutes or so, not knowing at what moment
some disagreeable surprise might be sprung upon us. Besides, we did not know how you might be faring, and
thought it quite possible that the craft you were after might attempt to give you the slip in the darkness. The
men on the forecastle were two of the best we have in the ship--William Robinson and Henry Perkins."
"Yes," assented the captain; "they have always hitherto seemed thoroughly trustworthy and reliable men.
Where are they? I should like to ask them a question or two."
The two men were summoned, and at once subjected to a very sharp cross-examination, which led to nothing,
however, as they both persistently declared that they had neither seen nor heard anything to arouse the
slightest suspicion until the discovery was made that the ship was adrift. The captain then went forward and
inspected the severed cable; but that revealed nothing beyond the fact that the strands had been cut almost
completely through with some very sharp instrument before the stubborn hemp had given way. In short, the
whole affair was enshrouded in the deepest mystery. When, however, the captain had heard the whole story,
and thoroughly investigated the matter, he freely absolved the first luff from all blame, frankly acknowledging
that he did not see what more could have been done to provide for the safety of the ship, and that the thing
would undoubtedly have happened just the same had he himself remained on board instead of going away
with the boats.
CHAPTER FIVE. 30
Meanwhile, the dead and wounded had been conveyed from the prizes to the Barracouta, where the doctor
immediately took the sufferers in hand, while the slain were stitched up in their hammocks ready for burial. At
length it came to my turn to be attended to, and when the doctor saw my foot--now so dreadfully swollen and
inflamed that my whole leg was affected, right up to the knee--I was promptly consigned to the sick-bay, with
the intimation that I might think myself exceedingly fortunate if in that hot climate mortification did not set in
and necessitate the amputation of my leg. I am thankful to say, however, that it did not; and in three weeks I
was discharged from the doctor's care, and once more able to hobble about with the aid of a soft felt slipper.
The dead were buried that same forenoon on the point projecting into the river at the junction of the creek
with the main stream, the graves being dug in a small space of smooth, grassy lawn beneath the shadow of a
magnificent group of fine tall palms.
A hasty breakfast was snatched, as soon as it could be got ready; and then every man available was set to
work upon the task of lightening the stranded brig, her guns and such other heavy weights as were most easily
accessible being transferred to the prizes, after which the second bower was weighed and run away to
windward in the long-boat by means of a kedge; and such was the activity displayed, that at high-water that
same afternoon--the tides were fortunately making at the time--the Barracouta floated and was hove off to her
anchor. Meanwhile, the missing anchor had been swept for and found, and the severed end of the cable
buoyed; before nightfall, therefore, the cable was spliced, and the bonny brig once more riding to her best
bower. The men were kept at work until it was too dark to see further; and by six bells in the forenoon watch
next day she was again all ataunto, her guns and everything else once more on board her, and the ship herself
all ready for sea, it having been ascertained that she had sustained no damage whatever. It may be mentioned
that the schooner which had effected her escape from us in the lagoon managed to slip out of the creek and get
clear away without being observed by anybody on board the Barracouta; but that of course is easily
accounted for by the pitchy darkness of the night, and the fact that she must have passed out of the creek a
very short while after the brig had grounded upon the sand-bank, and when of course our lads would be fully
occupied in looking after their own craft.
Proper prize-crews were now told off to the three prizes--Ryan being placed in charge of the Mercedes;
Gowland, the master's mate, in charge of the Dona Hermosa; and Good, one of the midshipmen, in charge of
the Felicidad--and the order to weigh and proceed in company was given. There was a slashing breeze from
the eastward blowing; and this, combined with a strong downward current, carried us along over the ground
so smartly that in less than two hours we were abreast of Shark Point, although the Dona Hermosa proved to
be such an indifferent sailer that the rest of us had to materially reduce our spread of canvas to avoid running
away from her altogether. The Felicidad, on the other hand, sailed like a witch, and kept her station without
difficulty, under a single-reefed mainsail, foresail, and inner jib, with all her square canvas stowed. The
master informed me that as we passed Banana Point he had remembered to subject the anchorage to a very
careful scrutiny through his telescope, and, as he had foretold, the handsome Spanish brig had disappeared,
the Englishman and the Dutchman being the only craft still lying off the wharf. Having made an offing of
about twenty miles, we hauled up some three points to the northward for Cape Palmas, our destination being
of course Sierra Leone.
On the third day out, the captain of the Mercedes--whom I had shot in self-defence in his own cabin, it will be
remembered--died of his wound, solemnly declaring with his last breath that he was absolutely innocent of
any complicity in the destruction of the Sapphire's two boats with their crews, or in the disappearance of the
Wasp. He admitted that he had heard of both occurrences, and had been told the name of the individual who
was said to be responsible for them, but he stubbornly persisted in his refusal to give any information
whatever, and carried the secret to his ocean grave with him.
In due time we reached Sierra Leone without mishap and without adventure, after a moderately quick passage;
and, our prizes having been taken in flagrante delicto, they were forthwith condemned. At Captain Stopford's
suggestion, however, the Felicidad was purchased into the service, and with all speed fitted to serve as a
tender to the Barracouta, her extraordinary speed peculiarly fitting her for such employment, while her
CHAPTER FIVE. 31
exceedingly light draught promised to render her especially useful in the exploration of the various rivers
along the coast, many of which are very shallow. We remained in harbour a trifle over three weeks while the
necessary alterations were being effected-- during which time, owing to the unremitting vigilance and skill of
"Paddy" Blake, our doctor, we lost only one man through fever--and then, all being ready, the Felicidad was
commissioned, Ryan, our second lieutenant, being given the command of her, with--to my great delight--
myself as his chief officer, Pierrepoint and Gowland being our shipmates. We also shipped as surgeon a
young fellow named Armstrong, a Scotchman, whom the captain of the Ariadne kindly spared to us with a
first-rate recommendation; and in addition we had Warren, the gunner's mate of the Barracouta, as gunner;
Coombs, the carpenter's mate, as carpenter; and Bartlett, the boatswain's mate, as boatswain. And by way of a
crew, the captain gave us forty of his best men, as he very well could without weakening his own ship's
company, a ship with supernumeraries having most opportunely arrived from home only a few days
previously. It will thus be seen that, so far as strength was concerned, we were fairly well able to take care of
ourselves. We were expected to do far more than that, however; the captain, when giving us our instructions,
hinting that he looked to us to fully justify him by our services for all the trouble that he had taken in causing
the schooner to be fitted out. I think, however, that having put such a dashing fellow as Ryan in command, he
had very few misgivings upon this point.
The Barracouta and the Felicidad sailed together on the evening of the eighteenth of December, and, the
captain having given Ryan a pretty free hand, parted company off the shoals of Saint Ann; the schooner
keeping her luff and heading about south-south-west, while the brig bore away on a south-east-by-south
course for Cape Palmas; the idea being that we should do better apart than together. We were to cruise for six
weeks, and at the end of that time, if unsuccessful, to rendezvous on the parallel of six degrees south latitude
and the meridian of twelve degrees east longitude; or, in other words, some eighteen miles off the mouth of
the Congo. We were to remain on this spot twenty-four hours; and if at the end of that time the brig had not
appeared, we were to proceed on a further cruise of six weeks, and then return to Sierra Leone to replenish our
stores and await further orders.
It was a glorious evening when we sailed; a moderate breeze was blowing from the westward, pure,
refreshing, and cool compared with the furnace-like atmosphere in which we had been stewing for the
previous three weeks. The sky was without a cloud; the sea a delicate blue, necked here and there with
miniature foam-caps of purest white; while, broad on our lee quarter, the high land about the settlement of
Sierra Leone, just dipping beneath the horizon, glowed rosy red in the light of the sinking sun. It was an
evening to make one's heart rejoice; such an evening as can only be met with in the tropics; and, just starting
as we were upon what all hands regarded as a holiday cruise, it is but small wonder that we experienced and
enjoyed its exhilarating influence to an almost intoxicating extent. Jocularity and laughter pervaded the little
craft from end to end; and throughout the second dog-watch dancing, singing, and skylarking--all, of course,
within the limits of proper discipline--were the order of the evening. As the sun disappeared in the west, the
full, round orb of the moon floated majestically up over the purple rim of the horizon to leeward; and the swift
yet imperceptible change from the golden glory of sunset to the silvery radiance of a clear, moonlit night was
a sight of beauty that must be left to the imagination, for no mortal pen could possibly do justice to it.
"Now, Harry, me bhoy," exclaimed Ryan, speaking in the broad brogue that always sprang to his lips when he
was excited or exhilarated, and slapping me upon the back as we emerged from the companion after dinner
that evening, and stood for a moment contemplating the glory of the night, "from this moment we're slavers,
we're pirates, we're cut-throats of the first wather, to be hail-fellow-well-met with every dirty blagguard that
sails the says--until we can get them within rache of these pretty little barkers," affectionately tapping the
breech of one of our long nines as he spoke; "and thin see if we won't give thim such a surprise as they haven't
met with for manny a day!"
And he quite looked the character, too--for he was of very powerful, athletic build, though not very tall,
swarthy in complexion, and burnt as dark as a mulatto by the sun; with a thick, bushy black beard, and a most
ferocious-looking moustache that he had been assiduously cultivating ever since he had known that he was to
CHAPTER FIVE. 32
have the command of the schooner--as he stepped out on deck at eight bells on the following morning, attired
in white drill jacket and long flowing trousers of the same, girt about the waist with a gaudy silken sash
glowing in all the colours of the rain bow, the costume being topped off with a broad-brimmed Panama hat
swathed round with a white puggaree. He was indeed the beau-ideal of a dandy pirate skipper, and I was not a
very bad imitation of him--barring the whiskers. The only things perhaps that a too captious critic might have
objected to were the spotless purity of our clothing, and an utter absence of that ruffianly manner which
distinguishes the genuine pirate; but, as Ryan observed, the first of these objections would grow less
noticeable with every day that we wore the clothes, while the other was not necessary, or, if it should become
so, must be assumed as successfully as our talents in that direction would permit. As for the crew, they had by
Ryan's orders discarded their usual clothing for jumpers and trousers of blue dungaree, with soft felt hats,
cloth caps, or knitted worsted nightcaps by way of head-covering, so that, viewed through a telescope, we
might present as slovenly and un-man-o'-war-like an appearance as possible. This effect was further
heightened by Ryan having very wisely insisted that not a spar or rope of the schooner should be altered or
interfered with in any way, saving of course where it needed refitting; those therefore who happened to know
the Felicidad would recognise her at once; and it was our business so to conduct ourselves that they should
not suspect her change of ownership until too late to effect an escape. Her capture was of course by this time
known to many of the craft frequenting the Congo; but that we could not help; our plans were based mostly
upon the hope that there were still many who did not know it, and also, to some extent, upon a belief that,
even to those who were aware of it, we might by judicious behaviour convey an impression that her people
had cleverly effected their own and her escape, and were once more boldly pursuing their lawless trade.
We did not much expect to fall in with anything worthy of our attention until we were pretty close up with the
Line; we therefore carried on all through the first night and the whole of the next day, arriving by sunset upon
the northern boundary of what we considered our cruising ground proper. And then, as ill-luck would have it,
the wind died away, and left us rolling helplessly upon a long, glassy swell, without steerage-way, the
schooner's head boxing the compass. This period of calm lasted all through the night and the whole of the next
day, varied only by an occasional cat's-paw of scarcely sufficient strength or duration to enable us to get the
schooner's jib-boom pointed in the right direction. But this did not trouble Ryan in the least, for, as he
reminded me for my consolation, we were now just where we wanted to be, and the first breeze that sprang up
might bring with it one of the gentry that we were so anxiously on the look-out for. Meanwhile, he availed
himself of the opportunity to prepare a certain piece of apparatus that he had employed his leisure in devising,
and which he thought might possibly prove useful on occasion. "I've been thinking," said he to me on the
morning after the calm had set in, "that it mayn't always be convanient for the schooner to go through the
wather at her best speed, so I've devised a thriflin' arrangement that'll modherate her paces widhout annyone
out of the craft bein' anny the wiser." And therewith he ordered a good stout hawser to be roused up on deck;
and from this he had a length of some fifteen fathoms cut off, all along the middle part of which he caused a
dozen pigs of ballast to be securely lashed. This done, he ordered the bight, with the pigs attached, to be
passed under the ship's bottom, and the two ends of the hawser to be passed inboard through the port and
starboard midship ports and well secured, when we had a drag underneath the schooner that would certainly
exercise a very marked effect upon her sailing, without making a sufficient disturbance in the water to reveal
the fact that trickery was being resorted to.
Towards the close of the afternoon the aspect of the sky seemed to promise that ere long we might hope for a
welcome change of weather; the deep, brilliant blue of the unclouded dome became blurred as though it were
gradually being overspread by a thin and semi-transparent curtain of mist, which gradually resolved itself into
that streaky, feathery appearance called by seamen "mare's-tails"; and a bank of horizontal grey cloud
gathered in the western quarter, into which the sun at length plunged in a glare of fiery crimson and smoky
purple that had all the appearance of a great atmospheric conflagration. A short, steep swell, too, gathered
from the westward, causing the inert schooner to roll and wallow until she was shipping water over both
gunwales, and her masts were working and grinding so furiously in the partners that we had to lift the coats
and drive the wedges home afresh, as well as to get up preventer-backstays and rolling tackles.
CHAPTER FIVE. 33
"There is a breeze, and a strong one too, behind all this," remarked Ryan to me, "and it will give us an
opportunity to test the little hooker's mettle. I wish it would come and be done with it, for by the powers I'm
gettin' mighty toired of this stoyle of thing," as the schooner's counter squattered down with a thud and a
splash into a deep hollow, and then rolled so heavily and so suddenly to starboard that we both gathered way
and went with a run into the scuppers just in time to be drenched to the waist by the heavy fall of water that
she dished in over her rail. This sort of thing soon gave us a taste of the Felicidad's quality, for so lightly was
she framed that the heavy rolling strained her tremendously, and she began to make so much water that we
were obliged to set the pumps going every two hours, while the creaking and complaining of her timbers and
bulkheads raised a din that might have been heard half-a-mile away.
"As soon as the breeze comes," said Ryan, as we descended the companion-ladder to shift into dry clothes,
"we will bear up and jog quietly in for Cape Lopez, which will give us a chance of being overhauled by
something running in for either the Gaboon or the Ogowe, or of blundherin' up against something coming out
from one or the other of those same rivers. If we don't fall in with annything by the time that we make the
land, we will just stand on and take a look in here and there, beginning with the Ogowe and working our way
northward gradually until we've thoroughly overhauled the whole of the Bight."
By the time that we were summoned below to dinner, the sky had become entirely overcast with heavy, black,
thunderous-looking clouds that entirely-obscured the stars, and only allowed the light of the moon to sift
feebly through; yet there was light enough to enable us to see our way about the deck, or to reveal to a sharp
eye a sail as far away as seven or eight miles, had anything been within that distance. As we left the deck a
quivering gleam of sheet-lightning flashed up along the western horizon, and Ryan gave Pierrepoint--who was
taking the deck for me while I got my dinner--instructions to keep a sharp eye upon the weather, as there was
no knowing how it might turn out. While we sat at table the lightning became more vivid and frequent; and
after a while the dull, deep rumble of distant thunder was heard. Presently we heard Pierrepoint singing out to
one of the boys to jump below and fetch up his oil-skins for him; and a minute or two later the sound of a
heavy shower advancing over the water became audible, rapidly increasing in volume until it reached us,
when in a moment we were almost deafened by the loud pelting of the rain upon the deck overhead as the
overladen clouds discharged their burden with all the fierce vehemence of a truly tropical downpour.
At the first crash of the rain upon the deck Ryan and I both with one accord glanced hastily at the barometer
that was hanging suspended in gimbals in the skylight; the mercury had dropped slightly, but not sufficient to
arouse any uneasiness, and we therefore went quietly on with our dinner, although Ryan shouted across the
table to me--
"When the rain comes before the wind, Halliards, sheets, and braces mind."
There was little danger, however, of our being caught unawares, for we had long ago clewed up and hauled
down everything, except the boom-foresail and jib, to save the sails from thrashing themselves threadbare
with the rolling of the ship; we consequently awaited the development of events with perfect equanimity. The
downpour lasted perhaps three minutes, and then ceased with startling abruptness, leaving us in absolute
silence save for the rush and splash of the water athwart the flooded decks with the now greatly diminished
rolling of the schooner, the gurgle of the spouting scuppers, the kicking of the rudder upon its gudgeons, the
groaning and complaining of the timbers, or the voices of the people on deck, and the soft patter of their bare
feet upon the wet planks as they moved here and there. The shower had knocked the swell down very
considerably, rendering the movements of the schooner much more easy than they had been, and we were able
to finish our meal in peace and comfort without the continued necessity to steady the plate with one hand and
the tumbler with the other, keeping a wary eye upon the viands meanwhile, in readiness to dodge any of them
that might happen to fetch away in our direction, and snatching a mouthful or a sip in the brief intervals when
the ship became comparatively steady.
When we again went on deck the sky presented a really magnificent spectacle, the vast masses of heavy,
CHAPTER FIVE. 34
electrically-charged cloud being piled one above the other in a fashion that resembled, to me, nothing so much
as a chaos of titanic rocks of every conceivable shape and colour, the forms and hues of the clouds being
rendered distinctly visible by the incessant play of the sheet-lightning among their masses. Not only the whole
sky, but the entire atmosphere seemed to be a-quiver with the silent electric discharges, and the effect was
indescribably beautiful as the quick, tremulous flashes blazed out, now here, now there, strongly illumining
one portion of the piled-up masses and the reflection in the glassy water with its transient radiance, while the
rest of the scene was by contrast thrown into the deepest, blackest, most opaque shadow. Meanwhile the
mutterings of the distant thunder had gradually grown louder and drawn nearer, while sudden, vivid flashes of
forked or chain-lightning, golden, violet, or delicate rose-tinted, darted at ever-lessening intervals from the
lowering masses of intensely black cloud heaped up along the western horizon.
We had been on deck perhaps half-an-hour, when a delicious coolness and freshness began by almost
insensible degrees to pervade the hitherto intolerable closeness of the hot and enervating atmosphere, and,
looking away to the westward, we saw, by the quick, flickering illumination of the lightning, a few transient
cat's-paws playing here and there upon the surface of the water. Gradually and erratically these evanescent
movements in the inert air stole down to the schooner, lightly rippling the water round her for an instant, just
stirring the canvas with a faint rustle for a moment, and then dying away again. They were succeeded by
others, however, with rapidly increasing frequency, and presently a faint blurr upon the glassy surface of the
water to the westward marked the approach of the true breeze.
"Sheet home your topsail, and hoist away!" shouted Ryan. "Up with your helm, my man"--to the man at the
tiller--"and let her go off east-south-east. Sheet home your topgallant-sail, and man the halliards. Lay aft here,
some of you, to the braces, and lay the yards square. Well there, belay! Main throat and peak-halliards hoist
away. Ease off the mainsheet. Rouse up the squaresail, Mr Dugdale, and set it, if you please. Well there with
the throat-halliards; well with the peak; belay! Away aloft, one hand, and loose the gaff-topsail! Give her
everything but the studding-sails while you are about it, Mr Dugdale; it will save the canvas from mildew if it
does little else."
The breeze--a light air from about west--had by this time crept up to us, and under its vivifying influence the
schooner had gathered way, and was soon creeping along at a speed of barely two and a half knots, which,
however, rose to three and finally to five as the wind freshened, the sky meanwhile clearing as the heavy
thunder-clouds drove away to leeward before the welcome breeze, until the sky was once more cloudless save
for the mare's-tails that thickly overspread the blue, through which the stars blinked dimly, and the moon, with
a big halo round her, poured her chastened radiance.
"By the powers," exclaimed Ryan, as we paced the deck together after the operation of making sail had been
completed--"By the powers, but that dhrag of mine is a wondherful invention entirely! Do ye notice, Harry,
me bhoy, how it's modherated the little huzzy's paces? Bedad, she's goin' along as sober as a Quaker girl to
meetin' instead of waltzin' away like a ballet-dancer! But wait until one of those light-heeled picaroons comes
along, and then won't we surprise thim above a bit! If it's not blowing too hard when ye come on deck in the
middle watch ye may give her the stunsails; it'll look more ship-shape, and as if we were in a hurry to make
the coast and get our cargo aboard, if we happen to be overhauled by anybody in the same line of business,
and the deuce of a fear have I now of outsailing any of them that may happen to be in the neighbourhood.
Keep a sharp look-out, Mr Pierrepoint, and if anything heaves in sight, either ahead or astern, during your
watch, give me a call. I'm going below to turn in now."
I followed suit a minute or two later and, with my cabin-door wide open to freely admit the cool, welcome
breeze that poured down through the open skylight, soon fell into a deep, refreshing sleep.
CHAPTER SIX. 35
CHAPTER SIX.
A CAPTURE AND A CHASE.
When I went on deck at midnight I found that there was no occasion to set the studding-sails, for the breeze
had freshened to more than half a gale, and the little hooker was staggering along before it and a fast-rising
sea at a tremendous pace--considering the drag--with her royal clewed up and furled, and the gaff-topsail
hauled down. Even thus she was being greatly over-driven; so, as there was no need for too much hurry, and
as the sky astern had a hard, windy look, I took in the topgallant-sail, and hauled down and stowed the
mainsail, letting her go along easily and comfortably for the remainder of the night. I had half a mind to
further relieve her by getting the drag inboard, but did not like to do so without first consulting Ryan--since
the thing was of his contrivance--so, as the matter was by no means sufficiently urgent to justify me in
disturbing him, I let it remain, and very glad was I afterwards that I had done so; for when I went on deck
again at seven bells, there, away about a point on our weather quarter, gleamed in the bright morning sunshine
the white upper sails of a large craft that had been sighted at daybreak and that was now coming up to us fast.
Ryan was already on deck, having been called immediately that the stranger was made out, and was in a state
of high glee at the success of his stratagem, for he informed me that he had been up on the topsail-yard, and
had pretty well satisfied himself, both by the look of the craft and the course she was steering, that she was a
slaver running in upon the coast to pick up a cargo.
It now became a nice question with us whether we should reveal our true character as soon as the stranger
should have approached within reach of our guns, or whether we should try to follow her in, and, lying in wait
for her, seize her as she came out with her cargo on board. We were still at a considerable distance from the
coast--some twelve hundred miles--and that fact inclined us strongly to make short work of her by showing
our colours and bringing her to as soon as she should come abreast of us; while, on the other hand, there was
the chance that by following her in we might fall in with something more valuable than herself.
We were still weighing the pros and the cons of this important question, when the look-out aloft--for Ryan
had only half-an-hour previously determined to have a look-out maintained from the topgallant-yard between
the hours of sunrise and sunset--the look-out, I say, reported a sail broad on our starboard bow, standing to the
northward on a taut bowline, and under a heavy press of sail. She was as yet invisible from the deck; my
superior officer and I therefore with one accord made a dash for our telescopes, and, having secured them,
hastened forward and made our way up the fore-rigging to the topsail-yard, on to which we swung ourselves
at the same moment. From this elevated view-point the upper half of the stranger's topmasts and all above
were just visible clear of the horizon; and, bringing our glasses to bear upon her, we made her out to be a
barque-rigged vessel under single--reefed topsails, courses, jib, fore and main-topmast-staysails, and spanker;
her yards, which were pretty nearly square on to us, showed a quite unusual amount of spread for a merchant
vessel, and the rapidity with which she altered her bearings and forged athwart our forefoot was conclusive
evidence that she was a remarkably speedy craft. For a moment it occurred to us that she might possibly be a
cruiser belonging to one or another of the nations who had undertaken to share with Great Britain the noble
task of suppressing the inhuman slave-traffic; but a very little reflection sufficed to disabuse our minds of this
idea, for no cruiser would have been carrying so heavy a press of canvas as she was showing, in the teeth of
what had by this time become almost a gale, unless she were in chase of something, and, had she been, we
must have seen it. Besides, although everything looked trim and ship-shape enough so far as her spars, sails,
and rigging were concerned, there were evidences even there of a certain lack of discipline and order that
would hardly have been tolerated on board a man-o'-war of any nation, although most of the foreigners were a
great deal more free and easy in that respect than ourselves. The conclusion at which we ultimately arrived,
therefore, was that she was a slaver with her cargo on board, and "carrying-on" to make a quick passage.
But, fast as she was travelling, we were going through the water still faster, despite our drag, for we were
carrying the wind almost square over our taffrail, and Ryan, in order the more thoroughly to hoodwink the
craft astern, had double-reefed and set our big mainsail, as though we had been somewhat suspicious of her
CHAPTER SIX. 36
character, and anxious to keep her at as great a distance as possible; we were therefore foaming along at a
speed of fully eight knots, and rising the stranger ahead so rapidly, that when she crossed our hawse she was
not more than eight miles distant, and we had a clear view of her from our topsail-yard. She now hoisted
Spanish colours; and we, not to be outdone in politeness, did the same, as also did the craft astern of us, each
of us, I suppose, accepting the exhibition of bunting on board the others for just what it was worth.
Ryan and I had by this time pretty well made up our minds as to the character of both our neighbours; and as
the stranger astern--a large brig--was now barely half-a-mile distant from us, and drawing rapidly up on our
starboard quarter, it was necessary to make up our minds without delay as to the course to be pursued; the
question being whether we should meddle at all with the brig, and thus run the risk of exciting the barque's
suspicions, or whether we should devote our whole energies to the pursuit of the latter. I was all for letting the
brig go, for we knew, by the course she was steering, that she had no slaves on board, and the chances were
even that we should find nothing else on board her sufficiently compromising to secure her condemnation by
the Mixed Commission. Ryan, on the other hand, could not make up his mind to let the chance go by of
making two prizes instead of one.
"`A bird in hand is worth two in the bush, Harry, me bhoy,'" he remarked to me as we stood together near the
binnacle, watching the approach of the brig, which was now foaming along not a quarter of a mile away from
us; "and I look upon that brig as being quite as much in our hand as though you and I stood upon her
quarter-deck, with all her crew safe under hatches. Steady there!" he continued, to the man at the tiller; "mind
your weather-helm, my man, or you'll be having that mainsail jibing over, and I need not tell you what that
means in a breeze like this. Don't meet her quite so sharply; if she seems inclined to take a sheer to starboard,
let her go; I will take care that the brig does not run over us. Just look at her," he went on, turning again to me,
"isn't she a beauty? Why, she's almost as handsome, and as big too, as the Mercedes! D'ye mean to tell me that
such a hull as that would ever be employed in the humdrum trade of carrying palm-oil? Why, it would be
nothing short of a waste of skilful modelling! No, sorr, she was built for a slaver, and a slaver she is, or I'll eat
this hat of mine, puggaree and all, for breakfast!"
"I grant all that you say," admitted I, "but if she has nothing incriminating on board her, what then? We shall
only be wasting our time by boarding her, while we shall certainly give the alarm to the barque yonder, and,
as likely as not, lose her for our pains."
Ryan took a good long look at the barque, that was now about two points before our larboard beam, and some
six miles distant, thrashing along in a style that did one's heart good to see, and plunging into the heavy
head-sea, against which she was beating until her foresail was dark with wet half-way up the weather-leech,
and the spray was flying clean over her, and drifting away like smoke to leeward. Then he turned and looked
at the brig on our opposite quarter.
"It's risky," he remarked to me through his set teeth, "but, by the powers, I'll chance it! If we happen to be
mistaken, why, I'll make the skipper a handsome apology; if he's a true man, that ought to satisfy him. Mr
Bartlett"--to the boatswain--"cast off that drag and get it inboard over the port-rail with as little fuss as may
be, so that if those fellows in the brig are watching us they may not know what we're about; I want to keep
that conthrivance a saycret as long as I can. Be as smart as you like about it. Mr Dugdale, I want twenty men
to arm themselves forthwith, and then creep into the waist under the lee of the starboard bulwarks, taking care
that they are not seen; pick me out the best men in the ship, if you please. Ah, here is Gowland, the very man I
wanted to see! Mr Gowland, you see that brig--" and as I turned away to muster the men, and see that they
were properly armed, he drew Gowland away to the other side of the deck, and began to communicate
something to him in a very rapid, earnest manner.
By the time that the drag had been got inboard and stowed away, I had picked out the required men, and had
contrived to get them by twos and threes under the starboard bulwarks without--so far as I knew--being seen
by those on board the brig, watching the roll of the schooner and giving the word for the men to pass up
CHAPTER SIX. 37
through the scuttle and make a crouching run for it as the schooner rolled to port and hid her deck from the
brig. That craft had by this time overhauled us, and was far enough ahead to permit of our reading her
name--the Conquistador, of Havana--upon her stern; while our helmsman, taking Ryan's hint, had steered so
wildly, that he had sheered the schooner almost to within biscuit-toss of her neighbour. Meanwhile, now that
the drag was no longer impeding us, we were gradually lessening the small space of water that separated us
from the brig, and we could see that the schooner and her movements were exciting much curiosity and
speculation, if not actual suspicion, in the minds of three men who stood right aft on her monkey-poop,
intently watching us.
"Go for'ard and hail them," said Ryan to me; "I want to get a little closer if I can without unduly exciting their
suspicions. You can affect to be deaf if you like; perhaps that will give us a chance."
I took the speaking-trumpet in my hand and, clambering leisurely into the fore-rigging, hailed in Spanish--
"Ho, the brig ahoy! what brig is that?"
"The Conquistador, of Havana," was the reply. "What schooner is that?"
I turned to one of the men who was standing near me and asked, in the most natural manner in the world,
"What did he say?"
"The Conkistee--something, of Hawaner, it sounded like to me, sir," answered the man.
"What did you say?" I yelled at the brig, raising the trumpet again to my mouth.
"The Con-quist-a-dor, of Havana. What schooner is that?"
I assumed the most utter look of bewilderment I could upon the spur of the moment, and then, waving my arm
impatiently at our helmsman to sheer still closer alongside the brig, whose quarter was now fair abreast of our
fore-rigging, repeated my question--
"What did you say?"
My interlocutor, who was evidently the skipper of the brig, stamped on the deck with vexation as he raised his
hands to his mouth, and yelled at the top of his voice--
"The Con-quist-a-dor, of Havana! Do not sheer so close to me, if you please, senor. You will be foul of me if
you do not look out!"
"That will do, Mr Dugdale," shouted Ryan in English, to the evident astonishment and consternation of the
brig's people, "we can manage now. Stand by to jump aboard with me. I shall want you to act as interpreter,
for the deuce a word do I understand of their confounded lingo."
And as he spoke he waved his hand to the helmsman, while at the same moment Gowland, who stood close
by, hauled down the Spanish and ran up the British ensign to our peak. There was a shout of dismay from
those on board the brig, and a quick trampling of feet as her crew rushed to their stations and hurriedly threw
the coiled-up braces, halliards, and sheets off the pins with some confused notion of doing something to evade
us even at the last moment. But they were altogether too late; Somers, the quarter-master, who had seen what
was afoot, and had gradually worked his way aft, sprang to the tiller, and jamming it over to port, sheered us
very cleverly alongside the brig in the wake of her main-rigging, into which Ryan and I instantly leaped,
followed by our twenty armed men. The surprise was so sudden and so complete that there was no time for
resistance, even had the Spaniards been disposed to offer any, and in another moment we had reached the
CHAPTER SIX. 38
brig's deck and she was in our possession, the schooner instantly sheering off again to a short distance in order
that the two craft might not do any damage to each other.
Having taken so very decisive a step as to board and carry the brig, there was now of course nothing for us but
to go through with the affair in the same high-handed fashion. I therefore demanded at once to see the ship's
papers; and after many indignant protests they were produced and flung down upon the cabin table for our
inspection. These fully established the identity of the brig; and as an examination of her hold revealed that she
was fitted with a slave-deck, large coppers for the preparation of food for the unfortunate blacks her captain
hoped to secure, a stock of water, and farina ample enough to meet the wants of a large "cargo," and an
abundance of slave-irons, we were fully justified in taking possession of her, which we did forthwith.
Half-an-hour sufficed for us to secure our capture and put a prize-crew on board under Gowland's command,
and we then parted company; the brig to stand on for an hour as she was going--so as not to needlessly alarm
the barque--and then to haul up and shape a course for Sierra Leone, while we at once hauled our wind in
pursuit of our new quarry, which bore by this time well upon our port-quarter--as we had hitherto been
going-- with her topsails just showing above the horizon.
We had no sooner trimmed sail in chase of the barque than we found, to our unspeakable gratification, that we
were still far enough to windward to lay well up for her, she being at the commencement of the chase not
more than a point and a half upon our weather bow, while, from the superiority of our rig, we were able to
look quite that much higher than she did. The question now was whether, in the strong wind and heavy sea
that we had to contend against, we could hold our own with a craft so much more powerful than ourselves.
We had of course taken the precaution to get down a couple of reefs in our topsail, and the same in the
foresail, as well as to haul down the squaresail and get the bonnet off the jib before leaving the Conquistador,
but it was not until we had hauled our wind and put the schooner on a taut bowline, that we were able to
realise how hard it was actually blowing. Up to then the wind had seemed no more to us than a brisk, pleasant
breeze, while the schooner rode the long, creaming surges lightly as a gull. Now, however, we had to doff our
straw hats in a hurry to save them from being blown away, and to don close-fitting cloth caps instead, as well
as our oil-skins, while it was positively hard work to cross the deck against the wind. As for the schooner, she
behaved like a mad thing, careening to her gunwale as she soared to the crest of a wave and cleft its foaming
summit in a blinding deluge of spray that swept her decks from the weather cat-head right aft to the
companion, and plunging next moment into the trough with a strong roll to windward, and a very bedlam of
yells and shrieks aloft as the gale swept between her straining masts and rigging. She shuddered as if terrified
at every headlong plunge that she took, while the milk-white spume brimmed to the level of her figure-head,
and roared away from her bows in a whole acre of boiling, glistening foam. The creaking and groaning of her
timbers and bulkheads raised such a din that a novice would have been quite justified in fearing that the little
hooker was rapidly straining herself to pieces, while more than one crash of crockery below, faintly heard
through the other multitudinous sounds, told us that the wild antics of the barkie were making a very pretty
general average among our domestic utensils. But, with all her creaking and groaning, the schooner now
proved herself to be a truly superb sea-boat, scarcely shipping so much as a bucketful of green water, despite
the merciless manner in which we were driving her; and the way in which she surmounted sea after sea,
turning up her streaming weather-bow to receive its buffet, and gaily "shaking her feathers" after every
plunge, was enough to make a sailor's heart leap with pride and exultation that was not to be lessened even by
the awe-inspiring spectacle of the mountains of water that in continuous procession soared up from beneath
her keel and went roaring away to leeward with foaming crests that towered to the height of the cross-trees.
Our first anxiety, of course, was to ascertain whether we were gaining upon the chase, or whether she was
maintaining her distance from us; as soon, therefore, as we had secured our morning altitude of the sun for the
determination of the longitude, we measured as accurately as we could the angle subtended by that portion of
the barque's main-mast which showed above the horizon. The task was one of very considerable difficulty
owing to the violent motion of the two craft, and when we had done our best we were by no means satisfied
with the result, but we thought it might possibly be some help to us; so when we had at length agreed upon the
CHAPTER SIX. 39
actual value of the angle, we clamped our instruments, and, taking them below, stowed them carefully away in
our bunks, where there was not much danger of their coming to harm through the frantic plunging of the
schooner, our purpose of course being to compare the angle then obtained with another to be measured an
hour or two later. If the second angle should prove to be greater than the first, it would show that we had
gained on the chase; if, on the contrary, it should prove to be less, it would show that the chase had increased
her distance from us. It was shortly before noon when we again brought our sextants on deck, opinion being
meanwhile strongly divided as to whether or not we were gaining; some asserting positively that we were,
while others as stoutly maintained that we were not. But even our sextants failed to settle the question, for if
there was any difference at all in the angle, it was too minute for detection, and we were left in almost the
same state of suspense as before. The only relief afforded us was the assurance that we were practically
holding our own with the barque, and that unless the weather grew still worse than it was, we stood a fairly
good chance of catching her eventually. One thing was certain; light as our draught of water was, and small as
was the schooner's area of lateral resistance compared with that of the barque, we were slowly but certainly
eating our way out upon her weather quarter, her main and foremasts having been visible to leeward of her
mizenmast when the chase commenced, while now they just showed clear of each other to windward, thus
conclusively demonstrating that we were gaining the weather-gauge of her, despite the heavy sea. This was
certainly a most comforting reflection, and greatly helped to console us for the otherwise slow progress that
we were making in the chase. Ryan seemed to be the most disappointed man among us all; he was very
impetuous and hot-headed; he liked to do everything on the instant and with a rush; and upon the discovery
that we were not gaining perceptibly, he muttered something about giving the schooner more canvas. Luckily,
before giving the order he paused long enough to allow the fact to be borne in upon him that the masts were
already whipping and bending like fishing-rods, and the gear taxed to its utmost capacity of resistance; and
being, despite the characteristics above-mentioned, a reasonably prudent and careful officer, the sight
restrained him, and he forbore to attempt anything so risky as the further over-driving of the already greatly
over-driven craft.
Not so with the skipper of the barque. It was, of course, impossible for us to know whether he had observed
the capture of the Conquistador--we hoped and believed not; but, however that may have been, it was certain
that he had been keeping his eyes sufficiently open to promptly become aware of the fact that the schooner
had altered her course and was standing after him under a very heavy press of sail, and if our surmises as to
his character were anywhere near the truth, that circumstance alone would be quite sufficient to fully arouse
his easily-awakened apprehensions and to urge him to keep us at arm's-length at all risks. Be that as it may,
we had just made it noon when the quarter-master called our attention to the fact that the barque's people had
loosed their main-topgallant-sail and were sheeting it home over the double-reefed topsail. It was an
imprudent thing to do, however, for the sail had scarcely been set ten minutes when the topgallant-mast went
over the side, snapped short off by the cap. Her skipper instantly availed himself of the pretext afforded by
this accident to bear away three or four points while clearing the wreck, his object doubtless being to
determine beyond all question whether we really were after him or not; and if this was his purpose, we did not
leave him long in doubt upon the point, our own helm being put up the instant that we saw what he was about.
Realising, by this move on our part, the true state of affairs, he now squared dead away before the wind, shook
out all his reefs, and set his fore-topgallant-sail, as well as topmast and lower studding-sails. This was piling
on the canvas with a vengeance, but Ryan was not the man to be bluffed by any such move as that; every glass
we had was now levelled at the barque, and no sooner were her people seen in the rigging than away went our
own, and so much smarter were our people than those belonging to the barque, that our own studding-sails
were set and dragging like cart-horses while theirs were still being sent aloft. This experiment was tried for
about half-an-hour, by which time it became evident that the schooner was fully as good off the wind as was
the barque, if not a trifle better; she seemed to fairly fly, while at times, when the breeze happened to freshen a
trifle, it really seemed as though she would be lifted out of the water altogether; and I am quite persuaded that
but for the preventers we had rigged for the purpose of relieving the masts when she was rolling so heavily
during the preceding calm--and which still remained aloft and were doing splendid service--we must have lost
both our sticks and been reduced to a sheer hulk long before the half-hour had expired.
CHAPTER SIX. 40
I have said that we were doing quite as well as, if not a trifle better than, the barque; for while we held our
own with her, so that she was unable to appreciably alter her bearing from us, we were steadily edging up
toward her, our gain in this respect being so great that ere the next manoeuvre was at tempted we had risen her
high enough to get a momentary glimpse of the whole length of her rail when she floated up on the crest of a
sea. It was clear, therefore, that the barque had gained nothing by running off the wind; on the contrary, we
had neared her fully a mile; her skipper, therefore, having given the unsuccessful experiment a fair trial,
suddenly took in all his studding-sails again, reduced his canvas once more to a couple of reefs, and braced
sharp up to the wind, as before. But here again we had the advantage of him through the superior smartness of
our own crew, for he no sooner began to shorten sail than we did the same, handling our canvas so quickly
that we were ready nearly five minutes before him, the result being that we had gained another half-mile upon
him and had placed ourselves a good quarter of a mile upon his weather quarter by the time that he had
sweated up his top sail-halliards. We now felt that, barring accidents, the barque was ours; she could escape us
neither to leeward nor to windward. Instead, therefore, of continuing to jam the schooner as close into the
wind's eye as she would sail, with the object of weathering out on the barque, we pointed the little vixen's
jib-boom fair and square at the chase, checked the sheets and braces a few inches fore and aft, and put her
along for all that she was worth.
It is astonishing to note the advantageous effect that is produced upon the sailing of a ship when it becomes
possible to check the sheets and braces even a few paltry inches; it was distinctly noticeable in the case of the
schooner; her movements were perceptibly freer and easier, she no longer drove her keen cut-water into the
heart of the seas, receiving their blows upon the rounding of her weather bow with a force sufficient to shake
her from stem to stern and almost to stop her way for an appreciable instant of time; she now slid smoothly up
the breast of the wave, taking its stroke fairly in the wake of the fore-rigging, where it had little or no
retarding effect upon her, surmounted its crest with a long, easy roll, and then sank with equal smoothness
down into the trough, along which she sped lightly and swiftly as a petrel. It added a good half-a-knot to her
speed.
It was soon apparent that even this comparatively trifling advantage on our part had not escaped the notice of
our wary friend the skipper of the barque; it suggested to him yet one more experiment, and he was not slow
to make it, keeping his ship away about a point and a half and checking his braces accordingly. This proved
very much more satisfactory so far as he was concerned; for by four bells in the afternoon watch we had lost
sight of the barque's hull again, and it was unmistakably evident that she was increasing her distance from us.
We held on, however, straight after her, as before; for although it was undeniable that she was now drawing
away from us, it was but slowly; it would take her a good many hours to run us out of sight at that rate, and
we felt pretty confident that when the weather moderated--which we hoped would be before long, as the glass
indicated a slight rising tendency--we should have her at our mercy. Meanwhile, however, we felt that we
must not count our chickens before they were hatched; for there would be nearly an hour and a half of
darkness between sunset and moonrise, and in that time our crafty friend would be pretty certain to attempt
some new trickery if there seemed a ghost of a chance of its proving successful.
CHAPTER SEVEN. 41
CHAPTER SEVEN.
THE SLAVER'S RUSE.
The sun set that night in a broad bank of horizontal, mottled grey cloud, through which his beams darted in
golden splendour at brief intervals for nearly half-an-hour after we had lost sight of the great luminary
himself; and just about the time that the spars and canvas of the distant barque began to grow indistinct in the
fast-gathering dusk of evening, there occurred a noticeable decrease in the strength of the wind, with every
prospect of a tolerably fine night. Of course our glasses were never off the chase for more than five minutes at
a time, but up to the moment when it became impossible to any longer distinguish the movements of those on
board, no attempt to increase her spread of canvas had been observed. Whether by this apparent apathy her
people hoped to lull us into a condition of equal carelessness, it is of course impossible for me to say; but, if
so, they signally failed, for immediately that the barque's outline faded into an indistinct blur in the growing
darkness, we went to work and shook out a reef all round, never doubting but that they were at that moment
doing precisely the same thing. And our supposition was most probably correct--Ryan, indeed, who had sent
for his night-glass and brought it to bear upon her, declared that he could detect an increase in the area of her
shadowy canvas--for even after we had made sail we could not perceive that we were in any wise decreasing
the distance between the two vessels.
As the swift, tropical night shut down upon us every eye in the ship became strained to its utmost power in the
effort to keep sight of the chase, for now that there could no longer be any doubt in the minds of her people
that we were after them, we felt convinced that should an opportunity present itself for them to elude us in the
darkness they would assuredly embrace it; and, being new to the coast and to the service, as most of us were,
we had yet to learn by vexatious experience the fertility of resource which had been developed in the
slave-trafficking fraternity by the unflagging pursuit to which they were subjected by the slave-squadron, and
of which they never missed a chance to avail themselves. We had heard many an amusing story of the
extraordinarily clever devices that these gentry had resorted to--very often successfully--in their endeavours to
elude pursuit, and while we had laughed heartily at the recital of them, or commented admiringly upon their
ingenuity, as the case might be, we had no fancy for further illustrating in our own persons their superiority in
the art of mystification. And we were rendered all the more anxious by the fact that with nightfall the sky
became overspread with a thin canopy of cloud that, while not sufficiently dense to wholly obscure the stars,
so dimmed their lustre that it became difficult to distinguish, even through our night-glasses, the forms of the
waves at a greater distance than half-a-mile; while as for the chase, we were at length reluctantly compelled to
admit to each other that we had lost sight of her altogether, or at least that we could not be absolutely certain
whether we could still see her or not; sometimes we were confident that we could, at other times we utterly
failed to make her out.
It was while we were in this painful condition of uncertainty that Ryan--who like myself had remained on
deck, diligently working away with his glass, and utterly deaf to the more than once repeated statement of the
steward that the dinner was on the cabin table--turned quickly to me and said--
"Do you see that greenish-looking star just glimmering through the clouds right over our jib-boom end? Here,
stand exactly where I am, and when she pitches you will see it showing about ten degrees above the horizon.
There! do you see the star I mean?"
"Yes," said I, catching sight of the pale green glimmer as he placed me in position. "Yes, I see it. What of it?"
"Just carry your eye from it down to the horizon at an angle of about forty-five degrees in an easterly
direction, and tell me if you see anything particular."
I did so, and after two or three attempts thought I caught a faint gleam like the light of a lamp shining through
a red curtain.
CHAPTER SEVEN. 42
"Yes," I answered, "I fancy I can just make out a dim something." And I described what I saw.
"Precisely!" exclaimed Ryan delightedly. "There! now I have it in my glass--no, it is gone again--this jump of
a sea renders it almost impossible to use one's telescope on the deck of such a lively little hooker as this--not
that I've a word to say against her, God bless her, she's a beauty, every inch of her, but I wish she'd remain
steady for a second or two. There, I have it again! Yes, it's a light in the barque's after-cabin. They've drawn
the curtains, never suspecting that the light would show through. Yes, there's no mistake about it, I can see it
quite plainly now; upon my word I believe we are overhauling her now that the breeze has dropped a bit. Mr
Pierrepoint, d'ye see that light?"
"Where away, sir?"
It was pointed out to the lad, and after some searching and prying--for it was so very dim that it was almost
impossible to distinguish it with the naked eye--he caught sight of it.
"Very well, then," remarked Ryan, with a return to his old, humorous manner that showed how great a relief
to him was the appearance of the faint ruddy gleam, "keep your eye upon it, my bhoy, until I give ye a shpell.
Mr Dugdale and Oi are now goin' below to dinner, and if ye lose soight of that loight, bedad I'll--I'll keelhaul
ye, ye shpalpeen. He's edgin' away off the wind, d'ye see, the blagguard! I wouldn't be surprised if he was to
up helm and shquare away before it in a minute or two, hopin' to run us out of soight before the moon rises, so
don't let your oye go off that light for a single inshtant if ye value your shkin. Keep her away a bit"--to the
man at the helm--"let her go off a point! So! steady as you go! There, Masther Freddy, the light is right
forninst your jib-boom end now. Mind that ye kape it there. We're certainly gaining on her." And, patting the
lad affectionately on the shoulder, the warm-hearted Irishman turned and beckoned me to follow him down
into the cabin.
We had been below about half-an-hour, and were getting well forward with our dinner, when we heard the
voices of Pierrepoint and the quarter-master in earnest conversation over the open skylight, and an occasional
word or two that reached us seemed to indicate that they were in doubt about something. We both pricked up
our ears a little; and presently we heard Pierrepoint ejaculate in a tone of impatience and with a stamp of his
foot on the deck--
"I'll be shot if I can understand it at all, Somers; I shall call the captain."
"I really think I would, sir, if I was you. I don't believe that's the barque at all; it's some circumwenting trick
that they've been playing us, that's my opinion!"
At this Ryan started to his feet and, hailing through the skylight, asked--
"What is the matter, Mr Pierrepoint; have you lost sight of the light?"
"No, sir," answered poor Freddy, in a tone of distress; "the light is still straight ahead of us, and we seem to be
nearing it fast, but I can't make out anything like the loom of the sails or hull of the barque, and if she is there
I think we ought to see her by this time. The red light shows quite plainly in the glass."
"I will join you on deck and have a look at it," exclaimed Ryan; and, rising from the table, he sprang up the
companion-ladder three steps at a time, I following close at his heels.
Yes; there was the light, sure enough, right ahead of us; and a glance aloft as well as the feel of the breeze on
our faces told us in an instant that the schooner had been further kept away, and was now running well off the
wind, although the change had been so gradual that we had not noticed it while sitting in the cabin. Ryan took
the glass from Pierrepoint and brought it to bear on the light.
CHAPTER SEVEN. 43
"Yes," he remarked, with the telescope still at his eye, "that is the light, beyond a doubt; but, as you say, Mr
Pierrepoint, I can see no sign of the barque herself. Yet she must be there, for that light is obviously moving,
and I observe that you have, very properly, kept away to follow it. Surely," he continued, with an accent of
impatience and perplexity, "we have not been following some other craft that has hove above the horizon
since the darkness set in? And, even so, I can see nothing of the craft herself. Obviously, however, we are
nearing the light--whatever it is--fast, for I can see it quite distinctly in the glass, I even fancy that I can see it
rising and falling. Take the glass, Dugdale, and tell me what you can make of it."
I took the glass, and, after a long and patient scrutiny of the mysterious light, pronounced my opinion.
"To me, sir," said I, "it has the appearance of an ordinary ship's lantern wrapped in a strip of red bunting and
hung from a pole, or something of that sort. For, if you will look at it closely, you will notice that it sways
with the wash of the sea, and now and then seems to swing for an instant behind a slender object like a light
spar. But I could almost take my oath that there is no barque or any other kind of craft there."
Once again Ryan took the telescope, and after a further prolonged scrutiny, he exclaimed--
"By the powers, but I believe you are right, and if so we have been done! It certainly has very much the
appearance that you describe. But what in the world can it be? It is a moving object, beyond all doubt, for see
how we have been obliged to run off the wind in chase of it! However, we are close to it now, for I can make
out the swinging of the lantern--and a lantern it is--with the naked eye. It is some confounded contrivance for
leading us astray, that is what it is! But since we are so close to it, we may as well ascertain its character, if
only to be awake to the trick if it ever happens to be played upon us a second time. Hands by the braces here,
and stand by to back the topsail. And get two or three lanterns ready to swing over the side, so that we may
see just exactly what the thing is."
We had by this time approached the mysterious object so nearly that another three or four minutes sufficed to
bring it within a couple of hundred feet of the schooner's weather bow, when the topsail was laid to the mast,
and our way checked sufficiently to permit of a careful examination of the thing, whatever it was. By the time
that we had forged ahead far enough to bring it on our weather beam it was close aboard of us, and then the
light of our lanterns disclosed the nature of the contrivance by which we had been so cleverly tricked. It was
in fact nothing more than a raft composed of five nine-inch planks laid parallel to each other with a space of
about a foot between each, and firmly secured together by a couple of stout cross-pieces nailed athwart the
whole concern. The fore-ends of the planks had been sawn away to the shape of a sharp wedge to facilitate the
movement of the raft through the water, and on the foremost cross-piece had been rigged an oar for a mast,
upon which was set a hastily-contrived squaresail, made out of a piece of old tarpaulin. To the head of the
mast was securely lashed an old lantern with a short length of candle, still burning, in it; the lantern being
cunningly draped in red bunting to represent the appearance of a lamp shining through a curtain. And the
whole contrivance was rendered self-steering by the attachment of a few fathoms of line to the after-end of the
middle plank, at the other extremity of which a drogue, consisting of a short length of plank, was attached.
This drogue had the effect of keeping the raft running dead before the wind, and it travelled at a very
respectable pace, too--quite five knots an hour, we estimated its speed at--for the sail was quite a big one for
so small an affair; and since we had been steering for it for just about an hour, it meant that we had been
decoyed some five miles to leeward of our proper course.
The question now was: Where was the barque? It did not take us very long to make up our minds upon this
point. It was pretty evident that since her skipper had been at so much pains to entice us away down to
leeward, he would have held his wind all this time; and to windward therefore must we look for him. Whether,
however, he had tacked and stood away to the westward immediately after launching his raft, or whether he
had held on upon the port tack to the northward, we could not possibly tell, for a diligent and prolonged use of
our night-glasses failed to reveal the slightest indication of his whereabouts. Ryan, however, was not long in
arriving upon a conclusion in the matter. He argued that if he had tacked we ought also to tack forthwith,
CHAPTER SEVEN. 44
because, if we stood on as we were going until the moon rose, we might run out of sight of him; whereas, if he
had not tacked, he would be at that moment somewhere about broad on our weather bow. If therefore he had
tacked, we should be doing the right thing to tack also, since we should then be standing directly after him;
while if he had not tacked, we should still be doing right to heave about, since even in that case we should
probably see something of him from our mast-head when the moon rose, as she would in less than
half-an-hour. We therefore at once put the helm down and hove round on the starboard tack, keeping the
schooner as close to the wind as she would lie, while still allowing her to go along through the water.
A faint brightening in the sky by and by announced the welcome approach of the moon upon the scene; and
shortly afterwards the beautiful planet herself, considerably shrunken from her full-orbed splendour, rose
slowly into view above the horizon, her curtailed disc showing of a deep, ruddy orange-colour through the
dense, humid vapours of the lower atmosphere. Two hands were at once sent up to the topgallant-yard to take
a look round; but even after they had been there an hour--by which time the moon had risen high enough to
give us plenty of light--they failed to discover any sign of the barque or anything else; and we were at length
reluctantly compelled to admit that we had been very cleverly tricked, and that our cunning neighbour had
fairly given us the slip.
"But I'll not give him up, even now!" exclaimed Ryan, when this conviction had fairly forced itself upon us.
"Come down below, Dugdale, and let us reason this thing out."
We accordingly descended to our snug little cabin and seated ourselves at the table, Ryan producing a sheet of
paper, a scale, and a pencil wherewith to graphically illustrate our line of reasoning.
"Now, here," said he, drawing an arrow near one margin of the paper, "is the wind, coming out at west as
nearly as may be; and here," laying the scale upon the paper, measuring off a distance, and making two pencil
dots, "are the positions of the barque and the schooner when the former was last seen. Now, I estimate that the
barque was going about eight and a half knots, and we were reeling off nine by the log at that time; and this
state of affairs continued at least until the light was seen, which was about half-an-hour after we lost sight of
our friend. Consequently, when the light was first seen, the schooner was here"-- making another dot--"and
the barque there," making a fourth.
"Now, what would the blagguard be most likely to do when he had safely launched his raft? He knew that it
would go skimming away to leeward, taking us with it; and I therefore think it most probable that he would
tack at once, going off in this direction," laying down a line upon the paper. "Meanwhile, the raft went
scudding away to leeward until we met it there," making another dot. "Then we tacked, and, laying a point
higher than he can, stood along this line," ruling one carefully in as he spoke. "Now, we have been travelling
along this line, say an hour and a quarter, which brings us here. But where is the barque? If she had tacked,
and continued to stand on until now, she would be there, eleven or twelve miles away, and we should see her.
Supposing, however, that she continued to stand on as she was going when we last saw her, she would now be
there, twenty-eight miles away! Phew! I was a long way out of my reckoning when I thought that we should
still have her in sight, even if we tacked. We've lost her, Harry, my bhoy, and that's a fact. However, we know
where she's bound to, and that's the island of Cuba, or I'm a Dutchman. Very well. Having given us the slip
she will make the best of her way there without further delay; and it is my opinion that if she is still standing
to the northward she will not continue to do so for very much longer, because, d'ye see, my bhoy, she'll be
afraid of falling in with some of our cruisers if she stands in too close to the coast. Therefore, as we can hug
the wind closer than she can, we'll just stand on as we are going for a day or two longer, or until the wind
changes--in fact, we will shape a course for Cuba--and if we don't fall in with her again within the next
seventy-two hours I shall give her up. Meanwhile the wind is dropping fast, so we will get some more muslin
upon the little hooker."
As Ryan had said, the wind was dropping fast, so rapidly, indeed, that when eight bells was struck at midnight
the schooner was under all the canvas that we could set, and even then was only creeping along at a speed of
CHAPTER SEVEN. 45
some two and a half knots per hour. Oh, how fervently we wished then that we could see even as much as the
mere mastheads of the barque! for we felt certain that in such a light air the schooner would make short work
of overtaking her. But nothing hove in sight; and when the next morning dawned we were still alone upon the
face of the vast ocean.
With the rising of the sun the small draught of air that still remained to us fell dead; and we had it calm the
whole day and well on into the succeeding night. Then the weather became unsettled and thundery, with light
baffling airs interspersed with fierce squalls from all quarters of the compass, during which we made scarcely
sixty miles in the twenty-four hours.
It was about midnight of the third day after we had lost sight of the barque, and the seventy-two hours that
Ryan had allowed himself in which to find her again were fully spent, without affording us another glimpse of
her. All hands, from Ryan himself down to the smallest boy in the ship, were dreadfully disgusted and
crestfallen at our want of success; and we were only waiting for a breeze to spring up from somewhere to
enable us to shape a course back to our cruising ground. The weather, however, was still very overcast and
lowering, with signs not wanting that another heavy thunderstorm was brewing, which would probably bring
us the desired breeze. There was not much swell running, but sufficient, nevertheless, to tumble the schooner
about a good deal; and I had accordingly taken it upon myself to clew up, haul down, and furl every stitch of
canvas, in order to save the sails from battering themselves to rags. The thunder had been gradually working
up ever since sunset, and in fact even before that, and when eight bells struck at midnight, and my watch
below came round, the weather had such a curious and portentous look, and the atmosphere was moreover so
close and heavy, that I determined to stretch myself out "all standing" on the stern grating instead of going
below, so that I might be all ready in case my presence should be required.
It was shortly after two bells when Pierrepoint came and roused me out with the remark--
"I am sorry to disturb you, Dugdale, but I think it is going to rain very shortly, and if you remain there you
stand a very good chance of getting soaked to the skin. And what do you think of the weather? Is it merely a
thunder-squall that has been brewing all this time, or what is it? Just look at those clouds overhead, their edges
look quite red, as though there was a fire somewhere behind them. Do you think I should call the captain?"
It was as he had said. The sky was banked up from horizon to zenith, all round, with enormous cloud-piles,
black as ink in the body of them, but their fringes or edges, which had a curiously tattered appearance, were of
a distinct fiery red hue. All this time there was not a breath of wind save what was created by the schooner as
she rolled heavily on the gathering swell; not a sound save those which arose within her as the bulkheads and
timbers creaked and groaned dismally, the cabin-doors rattled, the rudder kicked as the water swirled and
gurgled about it and under her counter with the heave of her, and the jerk of the spars aloft, or the slatting of
the braces as she swayed, pendulum-like, from side to side.
"What does the glass say?" inquired I, in response to Pierrepoint's last question. I walked to the open skylight
and peered down through it at the barometer, the tube of which was just sufficiently illuminated by the
turned-down cabin lamp to permit of its condition being noted. It had fallen an inch since I last looked at it,
during my watch on deck!
"Phew!" ejaculated I, "there must surely be something the matter with the thing; it can never have fallen that
much in scarcely two hours!"
I hurried below and, turning up the lamp, subjected the instrument to a careful examination; but, as far as I
could make out, there seemed to be nothing wrong with it; the fall had all the appearance of being perfectly
genuine. But, whether or not, it was certain that the captain ought at once to be made acquainted with the state
of affairs; I therefore went forthwith to his cabin and aroused him.
CHAPTER SEVEN. 46
"Ay, ay," he answered sleepily, to my call. "What is it, Mr Dugdale? Has the barque hove in sight?"
"No such luck, sir, I am sorry to say," replied I. "But I think you ought to know that the weather has a very
peculiar and threatening appearance; and the glass has dropped a full inch within the last two hours."
"An inch?" ejaculated Ryan, starting up in his bunk. "An inch? Surely, Dugdale, you must be mistaken!"
"Indeed, sir, I am not," said I. "I examined the barometer very carefully, and satisfied myself that I had made
no mistake before calling you."
"By Jove, then, it is high time that I was on deck!" exclaimed he, leaping out of his bunk. "Just put a match to
my lamp, Harry, my lad, will ye; you will find a box there on the shelf. Is there any wind?"
"Not a breath, sir; but I shall not be surprised if we have a great deal more than we want before long," I
answered.
"Um!" said he. "Well, almost anything short of a hurricane would be better than these exasperating calms. The
swell seems to have risen a bit since I turned in, hasn't it?"
"Quite perceptibly," said I, "and it seems to be coming more out from the northward than at first."
"Well," said he, thrusting his bare feet into his slippers, "let us go on deck and take a look round."
And, he leading the way, we forthwith trundled up the companion-ladder and stepped out on deck.
It seemed to have grown blacker and more threatening than ever during the short time that I had been below,
although that may have been due to the contrast between the light of the cabin and the darkness on deck; the
ruddy tinge on the cloud edges, however, was even more pronounced than before, the colour having slightly
changed and grown more like the hue of red-hot copper. Ryan was evidently much astonished--and, I thought,
somewhat dismayed--by what he saw.
"By the powers!" he ejaculated, "you did right to call me, Dugdale. If we were in the Indian Ocean, now, I
would say that a cyclone was brewing; and, now I come to think of it, there is no Act of Parliament against
one brewing here. How is the glass now? has it dropped anything since you last looked at it?"
I went to the skylight and once more peered at the mercury.
"Yes, indeed, sir, it has," answered I, "it has gone down nearly one-tenth!"
"Then, by the piper, we're in for something out of the common, and the sooner we set about preparing for it,
the better!" exclaimed Ryan. "Ah! I see you have already furled everything; well, that leaves us so much the
less to be still done. Call all hands, however, for we may have it upon us at any moment, by the look of things
up there," pointing to the frowning, ruddy sky. "Rig in the jib-boom, and send down all but the lower-yard on
deck, and both topmasts as well. Set some of the men to secure the canvas with double gaskets; and close-reef
the boom-foresail and set it. Let the carpenter look to the hatches and see that they are securely battened
down, and he had better examine the pumps also; our lives may depend upon them before all is over. Where is
the boatswain? Oh, is that you, Bartlett? Give an eye to the boats' gripes, will you, and see that they are all
right. I have known a boat to be blown clean from the davits before now. Hurrah, men! look alive with those
yards, and let us have them down here on deck as quickly as possible."
The schooner was by this time as busy as a beehive in swarming-time, the men working with a will, since they
knew, from the sharp, incisive tones in which Ryan issued his orders, as well as by the menacing aspect of the
CHAPTER SEVEN. 47
sky, that the occasion was pressing. Fortunately, in so small and lightly-rigged a craft as the Felicidad, the
task of preparing her for the forthcoming battle with the elements was not a heavy one, and, being well
manned for our size, we were soon ready.
None too soon, however. For hardly had the finishing touches been given to our preparations, and the guns
and boats made thoroughly secure, than we were momentarily dazzled and blinded by a terrific flash of blue
lightning that seemed to dart from the clouds immediately overhead, and to strike the water close to us, filling
the dead and heavy air with a strong odour of brimstone, while simultaneously we were deafened and stunned
by a most awful, ear-splitting crack of thunder that made the schooner quiver from stem to stern as though she
had been struck by a heavy shot.
Ryan, Pierrepoint, and I were all standing close together near the companion at the moment when the
lightning flashed out, illumining the whole scene for an instant with a light as brilliant as that of the noonday
sun, and while I was still in process of recovering from the shock produced by the terrifying crash of the
thunder, I heard my fellow-mid exclaim to the captain--
"There! did you see that, sir? There is a craft of some sort away out there," pointing in a north-easterly
direction. "I saw her as distinctly as possible. She is about six miles away, and is stripped to her close-reefed
topsails--"
"Did you see that ship out there on our port-quarter, sir?" hailed one of the men from the forecastle,
interrupting Master Freddy in his tale.
"No," answered Ryan sharply. "I wasn't looking that way. What did she look like?"
"She is a square-rigged craft of about three or four hundred tons, under close-reefed topsails, lying end-on to
us, sir," answered the man.
"Surely it can't be our old friend the barque that has drifted within view of us again during the darkness?"
exclaimed Ryan excitedly. "Keep a good look-out for her, lads, when the next flash comes," he added in an
eager tone of voice, that showed conclusively how secondary a matter the impending outburst of the elements
had already become to him in view of this new discovery.
No second flash came, however, but instead of it, and almost as the last words left Ryan's lips, the clouds
above us burst, and there descended from them the heaviest downpour of rain that I had ever up to that time
witnessed. Those who have never beheld a tropical thunder-shower can form no conception of what it is like.
Imagine yourself to be standing immediately under a large tank of warm water, and then further imagine that
the contents of this tank are suddenly capsized right on top of you; multiply the quantity of falling water a
million times, and suppose the descent of the water to be continued for from three to six or seven minutes, and
you will then have an imperfect conception of the sort of drenching that we received on the occasion of which
I am now speaking. The decks were flooded in an instant, and before I could wriggle into my oil-skins I was
soaked to the skin, and the warm water was washing above my ankles with the roll of the schooner. The
scuppers were wholly inadequate to the occasion, and we were obliged to open the ports to get rid of the water
and prevent it from getting below. The downpour lasted some four minutes or so, ceasing as abruptly and with
as little warning as it had commenced; but in that time it had beaten down the swell so effectually that our
motion was scarcely more perceptible than it would have been in a well-sheltered roadstead; and the effect of
the sudden cessation of the noises that had been so recently sounding in our ears, and of the crash of the
downpour, was very weird and curious, the dead silence now being broken only by an occasional faint creak
or jar of bulkhead or boom, and the loud gush and gurgle of the water pouring from the scuppers.
The silence was of no long duration, however, for we had scarcely found time to become sensible of it when a
faint moaning sound arose in the air, coming from no one knew where; and, presently, with a still louder
CHAPTER SEVEN. 48
moan, a sudden, furious, scuffle of wind swept past us, causing our reefed foresail to flap loudly, and was
gone. The moanings grew louder and more weird, sounding now on the port-quarter, now on the starboard
bow, then broad abeam, and anon high over our mastheads; it was clear that small, partial currents of air were
in violent motion all round us, and that the crisis was at hand.
The Pirate Slaver--by Harry Collingwood
CHAPTER EIGHT. 49
CHAPTER EIGHT.
CAUGHT IN A CYCLONE.
The watch below had been dismissed upon the completion of our work of preparation, but not a man had left
the deck, their anxiety to see and know the worst of what was to befall having completely overcome their
usual propensity to make the utmost of every moment allotted to them for necessary rest, and they were now
all huddled and clustered together upon the forecastle, discussing the situation in low, murmured tones, and
holding themselves in readiness, like hounds in the leash, to spring into activity at the first word of command.
The moaning and wailing sounds were now floating all round us, and presently, making itself rapidly audible
above them, we became conscious of a deep, fierce, bellowing roar that seemed to be approaching us on our
starboard beam, the schooner's head being then about north-west.
"Here it comes!" exclaimed Ryan, in a hoarse tone of suppressed excitement. "Get hold of a belaying-pin
each, you two, or you will stand a very good chance of being blown overboard. Starboard your helm; hard
over with it, my man. Get under the lee of the starboard bulwarks, men. Carpenter, are your axes ready in case
we should be obliged to cut anything away?"
"All ready, sir," came the reply, scarcely audible above the roar of the tempest that was now close upon us;
and as the man spoke a fierce gust of wind laden with salt mist swooped down upon us and careened the
schooner almost to her covering-board as it filled the foresail with a jar and a report like that of a
nine-pounder. This blast was only momentary, however, it was upon us and gone again in an instant, but it
was quickly succeeded by others; and then, away in the gloom, right abeam of us, appeared a white, spectral
glimmer swooping down upon the schooner with the speed of a race-horse, and spreading momentarily wider
athwart the blackness as it came. It was a line of white foam churned up on the surface of the sea by the
advancing hurricane, and all behind it the ocean was white as milk. The air was now in violent motion all
about us, fierce eddies swooping hither and thither, but generally in the same direction as that from which the
gale was approaching. Another heavy salt-laden gust struck us, lasting just long enough to give the schooner
way and render her obedient to her helm, and then the deep bass roar rose into a deafening, yelling medley of
indescribable sounds as the gale struck us, and the poor little schooner bowed beneath the blow until the water
poured in over her lee gunwale and I thought that she was going to "turn the turtle" with us. The foresail stood
the strain for just an instant, and then it split to ribbons, and was torn from the bolt-ropes as cleanly as though
the work had been done with a knife. But the good sail had already done its work before the hurricane proper
had struck us, in that it had imparted some life, even though ever so little, to the schooner; she was already
paying slowly off when the first stroke of the hurricane beat her down, and she continued to do so until, as she
got dead before it, she rose suddenly to an even keel and went scudding away to leeward like a frightened
sea-bird. The awful volume of sound given out by the fierce, headlong swoop of the wind as it bore down
upon us quite prepared me to see both masts blown clean out of the schooner; but all her gear fortunately
happened to be sound and good, and the loss of the foresail was the full extent of the damage sustained by us.
Having satisfied myself upon that point, I ventured to raise my head a little above the bulwarks to see how the
strange sail was faring. Pierrepoint had reported her as being visible in the north-eastern quarter, and if this
were so she ought now to be somewhere astern of us, since we were running off about south-west; and, sure
enough, there she was, about a point and a half on our starboard quarter, just visible in the midst of the ghostly
glare of the phosphorescent foam. She was, like ourselves, running dead before the gale, and I thought I could
make out that her topsails had withstood the tremendous strain of the outburst and were still doing their duty.
If this were so, since we were scudding under bare poles, she would soon overtake and pass us quite as closely
as would be at all consistent with the safety of the two craft, and we should be afforded an opportunity to learn
something of her character, and to judge whether she was the barque that we had been so industriously
seeking. I made my way over to Ryan, who was standing--as well as he could against the violence of the wind
that threatened to sweep him off his feet--close to the helmsman, pointed toward the stranger, and, clinging to
CHAPTER EIGHT. 50
the companion, we stood and watched her for a minute or two, half suffocated with the difficulty of breathing
in so furious a tempest. She was now about four miles from us, and it soon became apparent that she was
overhauling us fast, although by no means so fast as I expected; and she was so nearly end-on to us that I
suggested to Ryan the advisability of our showing a light, as it looked very much as though she had not yet
seen us and might approach us so closely as to put both craft in imminent peril.
"All in good time," shouted the captain in my ear, in response to this suggestion. "I do not believe that she has
seen us yet; but that is not of much consequence, since both of us are steering as steadily as pleasure-boats on
a river, and I will take care to make her acquainted with our whereabouts if there appears to be the slightest
danger of her running over us. But I want her to pass as near us as possible, so that we may have a good view
of her. For there seems to me to be a something familiar-looking about her, as though I had seen her before;
and, between you and me, Harry, I believe her to be our old friend the barque again. And, if so, we must keep
up with her at all costs until the weather moderates sufficiently to bring her to; so just step for'ard, will you,
my lad, and get the fore-trysail on deck and bent ready for setting in case we need it. And let one hand bring
aft a lantern, not lighted, mind ye; he can take it below, light it there, and leave it at the foot of the
companion-ladder all ready to show a light if yonder stranger seems likely to sheer too close to us in passing."
I went forward, as requested, and found that the watch below had already returned to their hammocks, the
crisis having passed, and the schooner scudding as comfortably as could be before the gale. The trysail was
got up from below, bent, halliards and sheets hooked on, and, in short, made all ready for setting, and I
returned aft to Ryan's side, having to claw my way to him along the rail in preference to creeping along the
deck upon all fours, which seemed to be the only alternative method of making headway against the wind.
The sea was by this time getting up, and the air was full of spume and scud-water, caught up from the surface
of the sea and the crests of the waves and swept along in a blinding, drenching shower by the gale. My
superior officer was still clinging to the companion, with his eyes intently fixed upon the strange sail astern,
which, now that the dense masses of cloud overhead were torn into shreds of flying scud by the fury of the
wind, was pretty distinctly visible, at a distance of about a mile and a half, by the dim, misty moonlight that
filtered through.
"I've been trying to get a peep at her through my night-glass," exclaimed Ryan, with a wave of his hand
toward the dark blotch in the midst of the white foam, "but there is no holding it in such a breeze as this; you
have to keep a tight grip on the thing or the wind will take it away from you altogether. But I'm pretty certain
that it is the barque; and if so I'll stick to her as long as this schooner will hang together."
"Do you think that she has seen us yet?" I asked.
"Yes, I fancy so," answered Ryan. "She appears to me to be edging away a trifle, so as to pass us to starboard,
giving us as wide a berth as possible. But even although she may have seen us, I do not believe that we are
recognised, as yet; indeed, how should we be? At this distance, and end-on as we are, with no canvas set and
our topmasts struck, we must look like little more than a dot on the water."
This was quite true, and I fully believed, with Ryan, that we had not been recognised, for although our
companion had indeed manifested signs of an inclination to edge away from us, the tendency was only to a
sufficient extent to insure her passing us in safety. Had she suspected us of being an enemy, it would not have
been positively dangerous for her to have altered her course fully a point, although, blowing as it then did, it
would have been exceedingly imprudent to have attempted more than that.
In about half-an-hour after I had joined Ryan the strange craft overtook us; but while she was yet some
half-a-mile astern of us we had made her out to be a barque of just about the same size as the one that we had
been hunting for; and when she came up abreast of us at a distance of not more than a quarter of a mile, we
saw that her main-topmast had gone just at the cap, and her people were still busy with the wreck of it; a
pretty tough job they seemed to be having with it, too. That she was much more strongly-manned than is
CHAPTER EIGHT. 51
usually the case with a merchantman of her size was also evident, for we could see that while one gang was at
work clearing away the wreck, another was busy securing the fore-topmast by getting up preventer-backstays,
and so on. How they managed to work aloft at all in such terrific weather passed my comprehension; but there
they were, at least trying to do something. And, as Ryan remarked, it showed conclusively what a resolute set
of fellows they were on board her, and afforded us a clue as to the sort of resistance we were likely to meet
with should it ever come to a game of fisticuffs between them and ourselves.
Having once overtaken us she seemed to very quickly pass ahead, and when she was once more about two
miles distant, Ryan gave the order to set the storm fore-trysail, a step that we might then very well take
without exciting any very strong suspicion on board the barque as to our ulterior intentions, since the sea was
by this time getting up to an extent which made the exhibition of a small amount of canvas on board the
schooner not only justifiable but absolutely necessary. The sail was accordingly set, and all risk of being
pooped was, for the time at least, done away with, and what was almost of equal importance in our eyes, we
now appeared to be holding our own with the sail ahead.
The watch had just been called when we noticed that the wind was backing further round from the
northward--a pretty conclusive indication that it was a cyclone, or revolving storm, that we had
encountered--and Ryan began to be exceedingly anxious upon the subject of heaving-to, since, as he
explained to me, every mile that we now travelled carried us nearer to the terrible vortex or "eye" of the storm.
Still he could not bring himself to do so while the barque held on, thus allowing her to effect her escape from
us a second time--assuming, of course, that she really was, as we very strongly suspected, our former
acquaintance; it was therefore with a feeling of considerable satisfaction that we shortly afterwards saw her
start her fore-topsail sheets with the evident intention of clewing up the sail, if possible, preparatory to
heaving-to.
"Ah!" exclaimed Ryan, admiringly, "that fellow is no fool; he scents danger ahead; he has been in a cyclone
before to-day, I'll warrant, and seems to know exactly what he is about. There goes his topsail, clean out of the
bolt-ropes, as I expected it would; but I do not suppose he ever seriously hoped to save the sail. And now over
goes his helm, and there he rounds-to--ah-h! look at that! on her beam-ends, by all that's--no--no--she is
righting again--good! very prettily done, v-e-r-y prettily done indeed! Now she luffs!--excellent! capital! You
are all safe now, my man. We will run down to him, Harry, my bhoy, and heave-to about a mile to leeward of
him; then perhaps he will not suspect us; he will gradually settle down towards us, as we shall lie closer than
he will; and when the wind drops we shall have him to do as we like with."
It was a very anxious moment with us when, having run down to the spot selected by Ryan, we eased the helm
over to bring the schooner to on the starboard tack--that being the correct tack upon which to heave-to in a
cyclone in the northern hemisphere--and I shall never forget the feeling of absolute helplessness that seized
me when, as our little craft gradually presented her broadside to the gale, I felt her going
over--over--over--until the water poured in a raging cataract over her lee rail, and she laid down beneath the
strength of the howling blast-- that now seemed to have suddenly increased to twice its former fury-- until the
lee side of her deck was buried almost to the combings of the hatchways. But as her bows came round and
presented themselves more obliquely to the gale she righted somewhat, and although she still careened until
her lee rail was all but awash, she rode the furious seas as gallantly and buoyantly as a gull.
Ryan had displayed a very considerable amount of judgment in conducting the schooner down to the berth he
had chosen for her, and had placed her there in so natural a manner that we scarcely believed it possible that
our presence so near the barque would be likely to arouse any suspicions of our intentions in the minds of her
crew; and as we had never been very near her during the time of our former pursuit of her, we were in hopes
that we should not now be recognised. We had taken up a position exactly to leeward of our neighbour; and,
as Ryan had anticipated, we soon found that the schooner was looking up a full point higher than the bigger
craft; but this was very evenly balanced by the greater amount of lee drift that we made, in consequence of our
much lighter draught; we therefore, contrived to maintain our position with almost perfect exactitude, except
CHAPTER EIGHT. 52
that the schooner manifested the greater tendency to forge ahead, thus placing herself gradually further upon
the barque's lee bow.
The wind continued to blow with unabated fury, and when day broke and we were able to look about us, the
scene was grand and awful beyond all power of description. The sky was of an uniform deep, slaty,
purple-grey hue, across the face of which careered a constant succession of lighter grey, smoky-looking
clouds, all shredded and torn to tatters by the headlong sweep of the gale. The colour of the sea was a dirty
green, deepening in tint to purple-black in the hollows, and capped by long ridges of dirty yellowish foam,
that was continuously snatched up by the wind and hurled through the air in drenching sheets that cut and
stung the skin like the lash of a whip. The sea, although not so high as might have been expected from the
force of the wind, was still formidable enough to be almost terrifying in its aspect as it swept down upon the
schooner in long, steep, mountain-like ridges, that soared to nearly half the height of our main cross-trees,
with a hollow of fully one hundred and eighty feet in width between them, each wave crowned with a roaring,
foaming crest that reared itself above our low hull as though eager to hurl itself upon and destroy us.
As the day wore on we received a temporary addition to our company, in the shape of a brig. She hove in sight
in the eastern quarter, about six bells in the forenoon watch; and the first sight that we got of her revealed that
her jib-boom and both her topmasts were gone. She was showing a storm-staysail; and at first sight we
supposed her to be hove-to; but she drove down towards us so fast that we soon came to the conclusion that
there must be something wrong with her steering-gear, and as she drew nearer it became evident that she was
unmanageable, falling off occasionally until she was almost dead before the wind; and we could see that
whenever this happened the sea made a clean breach over her. When within about a mile of us she showed the
Russian ensign, upside down, in her main-rigging, to which we responded by hoisting Spanish colours--to lull
any doubts that might possibly be lurking in the minds of our friends on board the barque, who did not
condescend to favour us with a sight of their bunting. As for the brig, she drove straight down towards us,
occasioning us a considerable amount of anxiety, for so erratic were her movements that when she had arrived
within a couple of cables' lengths of us it became impossible to say whether she would pass ahead or astern of
us. The only thing that we could do to avoid her was to fill upon the schooner and forge ahead out of her way,
and this we would have done but for the possibility that after our having done so the brig might take a sheer in
the wrong direction and fall foul of us, when the destruction of the schooner, if not of both vessels, must
inevitably have happened. At length it became evident that something must be done, for she was settling
bodily down upon us, and another two minutes would bring the two craft into collision.
Ryan therefore ordered the helm to be shifted, and we were just forging clear, as we thought, and leaving her
room to pass under our stern, when a terrific sea swept down upon her, throwing her quarter round, sweeping
her from stem to stern, and driving her crew into the rigging, and in an instant there she was, driving along
stem-on right for us--or, rather, for the spot that we should occupy when she reached it. There was now only
one way of avoiding a disastrous collision, and that was by putting our helm hard up, and, at all risks, jibing
round upon the other tack; and this we accordingly did, missing the brig by a hair's-breadth, but springing our
foremast-head so badly as the trysail jibed over, that we had to get in the sail at once, and set a close-reefed
main-staysail instead. As for the brig, she was little better than a wreck, for as she drove past us we saw that
her rudder was gone, her bulwarks carried away on both sides, from cat-head to taffrail, and her decks swept
of everything that was movable. It was of course utterly impossible for us to help them in any way in the wind
and sea that then raged; nor could we follow them in their helpless progress to leeward, and stand by them, the
damage to our foremast being so serious as to utterly preclude the possibility of getting any headsail upon the
schooner until it had been at least temporarily repaired, while the little hooker, having again been brought-to
on the starboard tack, absolutely refused to pay off under her staysail only, which was perhaps just as well, so
far as we were concerned, since any attempt on our part to run to leeward would almost certainly have
resulted in the swamping of the schooner. What became of the brig, and whether she outlived the gale or not,
we never knew, for she continued her erratic course to leeward, and we lost sight of her in about an hour and a
half from the time when she so nearly fell on board us, and we saw her no more. But she was driving in a
direction that would carry her right into the track of the vortex of the storm, to encounter which, in her
CHAPTER EIGHT. 53
wrecked and helpless condition, would infallibly mean her destruction.
As the day wore on, the wind gradually shifted round further from the eastward, and by nightfall it was
blowing from about east-south-east, and showing some signs of moderating, although it still blew very
heavily; much too heavily indeed to justify us in sending any hands aloft to fish our sprung mast-head.
Nevertheless, every preparation was made for the commencement of the operation at the earliest possible
moment, as we had detected signs on board the barque indicative of an intention to send a new main-topmast
up without delay; which might or might not mean that a suspicion as to our true character had begun to dawn
upon them. By midnight the gale had moderated to a strong breeze, and the sky had cleared sufficiently to
permit of a little moonlight percolating through between the denser clouds, and we were then able to make
out--to our inexpressible chagrin--that the barque's people had already got their new topmast aloft and ridded,
and were getting their main-topsail-yard across, having been hard at work, doubtless, ever since darkness set
in, though how they had managed to perform their task was a puzzle to us. It was, however, another evidence
of the resolute character of their skipper; another hint to us that we should have all our work cut out to bag
him; and the carpenter was therefore at once sent for, and set forthwith to the task of fishing our mast-head
with all possible expedition. The task was not half executed, however, when we had the mortification to see
our neighbour sheet home his double-reefed topsails and make sail to the westward. This sight put our men
upon their mettle; they could vividly picture to themselves the laugh that the slavers would be enjoying at our
expense, should they have suspected our intentions toward them, and before the barque was absolutely out of
sight from aloft, Chips had managed to make such a job of his work as enabled us to make sail also.
Daylight brought with it a clear sky, dappled with high, fleecy, white, fine-weather clouds, and a moderate
breeze from the south-east, with a very heavy, confused sea still running, however; and as the barque's royals
were still in sight above the horizon, we cracked on after her, although the carpenter had warned Ryan that the
work done during the night was scarcely as satisfactory as might be, and that the mast-head was hardly to be
trusted. But the fellow was a thoroughly good man, and eager to avoid all possibility of it being said that we
had lost the chance of a prize through him. As soon therefore as it was light enough to see, he was aloft again;
and by eight bells he had finished his work, and reported that we might now pack sail upon the schooner to
our hearts' content, which we forthwith did, giving her everything that would draw, from the royal down, the
wind being very nearly aft, that is to say, about two points on the larboard quarter. By noon it became
apparent that we were gaining, although but slowly, on the barque, her royals and half her topgallant-sails
being by this time above the horizon; and now all was anxiety on board the schooner as to the character of the
coming night; for we had no doubt that, seeing, as they now must, that we were following them, the
ever-vigilant suspicions of the barque's people would prompt them to avoid us should the night prove dark
enough to permit of such a manoeuvre. The indications were all for fine weather, however; the glass was
rising steadily, the sky was becoming of a deeper clearer blue; the white clouds were melting away, promising
a clear, star-lit night between the hours of sunset and moonrise, and, what was equally as much in our favour,
both wind and sea were going down steadily.
Toward eight bells in the afternoon watch we sighted another sail--a schooner this time; she was beating up to
the eastward, and crossed the hawse of the barque at no great distance, exchanging signals with her, although
what was their nature we could not see, and even had we been near enough to have made out the flags, it is
exceedingly improbable that we should have understood them. We had a suspicion, however, that they in
some way referred to us; for shortly afterwards the schooner tacked and stood towards us, crossing our bows
at a distance of about a mile, and exhibiting the French ensign. We replied by showing Spanish colours, as
before; upon which the stranger threw out some signal that we could not understand, and after displaying it for
some few minutes hauled it down and hoisted another. We thought it would never do to display a total
ignorance of the signals; Ryan therefore ordered the signal-bag to be produced, and we strung some flags
together haphazard, and hoisted them. This signal the schooner acknowledged, tacking at the same time and
standing toward us once more; but we were far too busy to wait for her, for although she had all the looks of a
slaver, we knew, from the course she was steering, that she could have no slaves on board, and was therefore
altogether unworthy of our attention with so promising a craft as the barque in plain view. She made no
CHAPTER EIGHT. 54
attempt to follow us, and in an hour was out of sight to the northward.
By sunset that night the weather was everything that we could wish, and we had risen the chase to her
topsails; everybody on board the Felicidad was therefore in the highest spirits, and hope ran high that by
daybreak on the morrow we should have our neighbour under our guns, and be able to give her an overhaul.
The stars came out brilliantly, and although the moon would not rise until after midnight--and would not give
us much light even then, since she had entered her fourth quarter-- we soon found that we should have light
enough to prevent the barque from giving us the slip, provided that we kept both eyes open. Nevertheless,
darkness had no sooner set in, than she made an effort to do so by edging off to the northward, a couple of
points, which move, however, we soon detected and frustrated by steering directly after her.
During the night the wind breezed up again somewhat, and this gave the chase so great an advantage that at
daybreak she was still about eight miles ahead. Shortly after sunrise, however, it dwindled away again, and
gradually dropped to a gentle air that barely fanned us along at a speed of five knots.
By noon we had brought the chase to within five miles of us, and Ryan deemed that the time had now arrived
for us to declare ourselves; we accordingly hoisted British colours, and fired a gun as a signal to the barque to
heave-to; the only notice taken of which was the exhibition of Spanish colours by the chase, and the firing of a
shotted gun of defiance; so now at last we knew each other.
Meanwhile the wind was very gradually dropping, and the schooner as gradually gaining upon the craft ahead,
until at length, late in the afternoon, we had reached within a mile and a half of her. And then began one of
those barbarous practices that I had heard of, but had hitherto been scarcely able to credit as sober truth,
namely, the throwing of slaves overboard in order to retard pursuit by causing the pursuer to stop and pick up
the poor wretches, as British men-o'-war invariably did whenever it was at all practicable.
The mode of procedure was generally to launch the unhappy black overboard, securely lashed to a plank or
piece of timber large enough to float him, and as he was dropped exactly in the track of the pursuing
man-o'-war, he was certain to be seen by some one on board, and an effort made to pick him up. In waters
infested by sharks, however, this had been found to be of very doubtful utility, since it happened as often as
not that long before the unfortunate wretch had served the purpose for which he was sacrificed, the sharks had
found him and torn him to pieces. In order, therefore, that certain hundreds of good dollars--or their
value--might not be wasted, and not from any motives of humanity to the slave, or any desire to give him a
better chance for his life, but merely that he might last long enough to delay the man-o'-war to the extent of
picking him up, an improved plan had been devised for use on occasions where the presence of sharks might
be expected; this plan consisting simply in heading the black up in a cask! This was the plan now adopted by
the people on board the barque.
CHAPTER NINE. 55
CHAPTER NINE.
THE GOVERNOR'S COMMUNICATION.
At the distance which now separated us from the barque all the movements of her crew were distinctly visible
to us with the aid of our glasses-- which of course were scarcely off her for a moment--and we accordingly
witnessed the launching of the first slave overboard. The unhappy creature was placed in a cask, and, as I have
said before, headed up therein, an aperture being cut in the two halves of the head just sufficient to admit his
neck; and the cask was then slung by a whip from the main-yard-arm, and secured by a toggle, the withdrawal
of which at the right moment, by means of a lanyard, enabled the cask to be dropped gently, right end up, in
the water, where it floated, with its inmate a helpless prisoner, to be picked up or not as the case might be. To
render this ruse of real service, a smart breeze should be blowing, because under these conditions the pursuer
has not only to lower a boat to pick up the floating black, but she has also to heave-to and wait for her boat;
and however smartly the operations of lowering, picking up, and hooking on again may be performed, they
still absorb quite an appreciable amount of time, during which the fugitive craft increases her lead more or
less according to her speed. In the present case, however, the conditions were by no means favourable to the
pursued craft; for, since we were only moving through the water at a speed of about three knots, it was an easy
matter for us to drop a boat into the water and send her on ahead to pick up the man, and pull alongside again
without detaining the schooner for an instant. The slaver tried the trick four times in succession, and then,
finding that it did not answer, gave it up.
The sun was just dipping beneath the horizon in a magnificent array of light cirrus clouds, painted by his last
rays in tinctures of the most brilliant purple and rose and gold, and the wind had died away to the merest
zephyr when we arrived within gun-shot of the chase; and Ryan at once ordered the long eighteen between the
masts to be cleared away and a shot fired as close to the barque as possible without hitting her, just by way of
a gentle hint that we were disposed to stand no more nonsense, and that the time had now arrived for her to
surrender without giving us any further trouble. But evidently the last thought in the mind of her skipper was
to yield, for instead of hauling down his colours like a good sensible man, he blazed away at us in return with
a couple of twelve-pounders that he had run out through his stern-ports. The shots were well aimed, but did
not quite reach us, striking the water twice fair in line with us, and then making their final scurry, and sinking
within about thirty yards of our bows.
"By the piper, I believe the fellow intends to fight us!" exclaimed Ryan. "As a rule these gentlemen are
particularly careful of their skins, and have no fancy for hard knocks, giving in when they find that their only
choice lies between a fight and surrendering, but there are occasional exceptions to this rule, and I fancy that
this fellow will prove to be one of them. Now, Harry, me bhoy, we must be careful what we are after when it
comes to boarding and carrying yonder gintleman; for if he happen to be one of the reckless desperado kind
he may play us a scurvy trick. I have heard of men who blew their ship and everybody in her into the air rather
than allow her to be captured; and, for aught that we can tell to the contrary, the fellow who commands the
barque may be one of that stamp. Now, if he is, we may rest assured that he will do nothing desperate until the
capture of the ship is certain; until then he will be the foremost man in the fray; so we must both keep a sharp
look-out for him and put him hors de combat before he has the chance to do any harm. I hope this breeze will
hold long enough to enable us to get alongside; should we be becalmed and have to attack him with the boats,
it will give him an important advantage, and perhaps result in the loss of some of our men."
This hope of Ryan's was destined to disappointment; for the wind continued to dwindle after sunset until it
finally died away altogether, and left both craft without steerage-way. By this time, however, we had drifted
within range of the barque's guns, and she had opened a rather desultory but well-directed fire upon us
whenever any of her guns could be brought to bear, the result of which was that one of our men had already
been hurt by a splinter, while the schooner's rigging was beginning to be a good deal cut up. Meanwhile we
were precluded from returning the barque's fire lest we should injure or kill any of the unhappy wretches pent
up in her hold. At length a round-shot entered the schooner's bows, traversed the decks, and passed out over
CHAPTER NINE. 56
the taffrail, glancing hither and thither as it went, and, although it did no material damage, affording several of
the men a very narrow escape.
"Why, this will never do!" exclaimed Ryan, as the shot made its exit after passing between the legs of the man
who was standing at the now idle tiller. "A few of those fellows, as well aimed as that one was, would make a
very pretty general average among us. We shall have to get out the boats--or, stop!--yes, I think that will be
better; we will arm the men and make all ready for boarding; load the guns with a double charge of grape; and
then man the sweeps, and sweep the schooner alongside, firing our guns as we heave the grappling-irons, and
boarding in the smoke. We shall thus have all hands available when we get alongside, and our bulwarks will
meanwhile afford the men a certain amount of protection."
The necessary orders were accordingly given, and a few minutes later the men, stripped to the waist, had
rigged out the heavy sweeps and were toiling away at them. And now the advantages of the schooner's light
scantling, light draught, and fine lines made themselves fully apparent, for, having once overcome the inertia
of the hull and put it in motion, the men found the little craft very easy on her sweeps, and capable of being
moved at quite a respectable pace through the water.
The barque was of course much too large and unwieldy a craft to be moved by the same means, and nothing
of the kind was even attempted; her crew, however, maintained a smart fire upon us as we approached; but as
we were careful to keep her end-on so that only her two stern-chasers could be brought to bear upon us, and as
we kept up a hot musketry fire upon that particular part of her, we did not suffer very severely; and without
any further casualties we at length arrived near enough, with good way on, to permit of the sweeps being laid
in, preparatory to our ranging up alongside. Ryan now divided the boarders into two parties, one to be led by
himself from aft, while I was instructed to head the other party from our forecastle, the idea being to pin the
slaver's crew between the two parties, thus attacking them simultaneously in front and rear as it might be.
Ryan himself conned the schooner alongside; and when we were within some ten yards of the barque, our
guns having previously been trained well forward, the whole of our small broadside was poured in upon her
deck, with terribly destructive effect it would seem from the outburst of shrieks and groans and curses that
immediately arose on board her. Our fire was instantly returned, but in such a partial irregular way as only
tended to confirm the impression that the slaver's crew had suffered severely, yet it gave us a tolerably clear
idea of what would have been the result to us had we withheld our fire for just a second or two longer. Then,
while both craft were still enveloped in the motionless smoke-wreaths, we felt the schooner's sides rasping
against those of the barque; and, with a shout to my little party to follow, I sprang upon our own bulwarks,
from thence to those of the barque, and so down on the slaver's deck--for a slaver she was, as our olfactory
nerves now assured us beyond dispute.
It was by this time quite dark, or at least as dark as it was likely to be at all that night; but the sky was
cloudless, the atmosphere was clear, and the stars were shining with a lustre quite unknown in our more
temperate clime; we therefore had but little difficulty in seeing what we were about, or in distinguishing friend
from foe; still, I must confess that I felt a little awkward, and, having commenced by discharging both my
pistols into the thickest of the crowd that I found opposed to me, confined myself pretty much to a random
system of slashing right and left with my cutlass, my principle--if I had one-- being to strike the blows,
leaving to others the task of warding them if they could. The fight that now ensued was brief, but sharp; the
slavers disputing every inch of their deck with us; but our fellows were not to be resisted; there was a brief
space of time during which the air seemed full of the sound of clashing steel, popping pistols, shouts, shrieks,
groans, and execrations, and the barque was ours, her crew throwing away their weapons and crying loudly
for quarter, which of course was granted to them.
The fight being over I at once made my way aft, and was greatly shocked to find that during the brief struggle
poor Ryan had been badly wounded in a hand-to-hand fight with the skipper of the barque, whom he had at
once singled out and engaged. It afterwards appeared that as soon as matters seemed to be going badly for the
CHAPTER NINE. 57
barque's people her skipper had attempted to slip out of the fight and slink below; but Ryan, suspecting some
sinister object in this projected movement, had stuck to the man so closely, getting between him and the
companion, that his object, if he had one, was frustrated; and in his desperation he had struck a blow at Ryan
that clove the unfortunate Irishman's skull open, only to be impaled himself upon our dashing captain's sword
at the same moment.
Ryan had thus fulfilled his purpose of putting the slaver's skipper hors de combat, but at serious cost to
himself; the poor fellow was so desperately hurt that he could do nothing but murmur his gratification at
finding that I had emerged from the fray unhurt, and an injunction to me to take the command, when he
fainted, and I at once had him carefully conveyed to his own cabin on board the schooner, where Armstrong
the surgeon immediately took him in hand.
Our capture was named the San Sebastian, and hailed from Havana; she had four hundred and twenty-one
slaves on board, out of a total of four hundred and seventy-six that she had brought out of the Gaboon river
only ten days before; she was a very fine handsome vessel of three hundred and forty-five tons measurement;
and our recent experiences with her had proved that she sailed like a witch. We secured our prisoners;
conveyed our own wounded--amounting to nine in all--on board the schooner; and then, having put
Pierrepoint and a prize-crew on board the barque, both vessels made sail in company for Sierra Leone, where
we arrived safely, after a passage of exactly a week, and where we were rejoined by Gowland and the
prize-crew of the Conquistador, which vessel had arrived six days before us.
Here, as the repairing of our damages and the provision of a new foremast for the schooner threatened us with
a considerable amount of delay, Ryan went ashore to the hospital, where he made pretty fair progress toward
recovery, although the improvement was not so marked or rapid as it had been on board the schooner at sea;
the intense heat, he complained, was against him, and his first inquiry every morning when I went to see him
was, "When did I think the schooner would be ready for sea again?" It was therefore with a feeling of intense
satisfaction that I was at length able to inform him that another day would see us out of the hands of the
shipwrights and riggers, and that we might sail on the day following if he so pleased. This news acted like a
cordial upon his spirits; he brightened up wonderfully, and improved more rapidly within the ensuing
twenty-four hours than he had done during the whole time of his sojourn in hospital, and but for the firmness
of the doctor, would at once have taken his discharge, and actually busied himself about the final preparations
for our departure. He, however, insisted upon joining me in the acceptance of an invitation to dine with the
Governor that evening; and at the appointed hour I called for him, and we sauntered slowly to Government
House together. The party was not a very large one, nor did we sit very late; but as the other guests were
taking their leave, his Excellency intimated that he desired to have a word or two with us in private, and we
accordingly deferred our departure.
When at length we were alone, our host invited us to light up another cigar, and, himself setting us the
example, proceeded to a cabinet that stood in the corner of the room, opening which he produced a folded
document from a drawer, and unfolding it, laid it before us.
"This, gentlemen," said he, "is a rough sketch-chart of the embouchure of the Congo. It does not profess to be
drawn to scale; but I am told that it shows with approximate accuracy the relative positions of the various
creeks and indentations that discharge into the main river, up to the Narrows. Now, the individual from whom
I obtained this chart informs me that at a distance of about two and a half miles up a certain creek on the south
bank--this one, the mouth of which is indicated by a star--there is a rather considerable native settlement,
ruled by a savage, known to the few Europeans who possess the doubtful honour of his acquaintance as King
Plenty. And, if my informant is to be depended upon, this potentate, whose chief characteristics are avarice
and brutal ferocity, has discovered a very simple method of combining business with pleasure by making
ruthless war upon his neighbours, and, after his lust for slaughter is satisfied, disposing of his prisoners to
certain slave-dealers, who have established themselves on the southern bank of the creek, where they have
erected barracoons, factories, and every convenience for carrying on their nefarious trade. I am told that
CHAPTER NINE. 58
within the last six months this spot, known only to a select few, has been frequently visited, and large
numbers of slaves have been carried away from it; its natural characteristics rendering it especially suitable for
the traffic. For instance, it would appear that this creek, like most of the others that discharge into the Congo,
and like the African rivers generally, has its own little bar at its mouth, upon which there is only one and
three-quarter fathoms of water, and is therefore unapproachable by any of the men-o'-war on the station--
excepting perhaps the Barracouta, and she is away cruising just now-- while the character of the banks is such
as to afford every facility for a galling and continuous fire upon a flotilla of boats advancing up the creek. I
have therefore thought that the breaking up and destruction of this slave-trading station would be a piece of
work admirably suited to the Felicidad and her gallant crew"--Ryan and I simultaneously bowed our
appreciation of the compliment--"because it is especially a case wherein valour and discretion must go
hand-in-hand, the service being of an especially hazardous nature; and I feel that in no one are the two
qualities that I have mentioned more admirably combined than in the person of Captain Ryan."
Ryan bowed again, and remarked--
"I am obliged for your Excellency's good opinion of me; and still more so for the information that you have
been good enough to give us to-night. I have been very fortunate, so far, in the schooner, and I suppose I may
reckon upon my promotion as certain; but I am eager to have further opportunities of distinguishing myself,
and if we can only be lucky enough to find two or three slavers up that creek, and to capture them, it would
afford me just the opportunity that I require. I shall sail to-morrow, and shall hope to be back here again in a
month or six weeks, with two or three prizes in company, and the assurance that the establishment in question
is completely destroyed."
We sat a few minutes longer, drank a final glass of wine, and then took our leave and walked down to the
schooner together, Ryan having determined to sleep on board her that night.
We sailed from Sierra Leone on the following day, as Ryan had resolved we should; but, as usually happens
when matters are hurried, we met with an endless succession of petty delays at the last moment that detained
us at anchor until nearly nightfall, and occasioned us a vast amount of trotting about in the broiling sun to put
some life into the dilatory people who were keeping us waiting; the consequence of which was that when at
last we lifted the anchor and stood out of the bay with the very last of the sea-breeze, to run into a calm when
we had attained an offing of some two miles, I felt altogether too tired and knocked up to eat or drink; while,
as for Ryan, he was in a state of high fever once more.
We got the land breeze about eight o'clock that night, and stood away to the southward and westward until
midnight, in order that we might obtain a good offing, when we hauled up on a south-east course for the
Congo. I remained on deck until midnight--at which hour I was relieved by Pierrepoint--and then was obliged
to send for the doctor, who, after feeling my pulse, ordered me to my bunk at once, and when I was there
administered to me a tremendous dose of some frightfully bitter concoction, telling me at the same time, for
my comfort, that he would not be in the least surprised if, when he next visited me, he should find me
suffering from a severe attack of coast fever. Happily, his anticipations, so far as I was concerned, were
unfounded; but by daybreak poor Ryan was in a state of raving delirium, with three men in his cabin told off
to keep him in his bunk and prevent him from inflicting upon himself some injury. As for me, the medicine
that I had taken threw me first into a profuse perspiration, and afterwards into a deep sleep, from which I
awoke next morning cool, free from pain, and with a quiet, steady pulse, but very weak; and I did not fully
recover my strength until a day or two before we made the land about the Congo mouth, which we did after a
long passage that was uneventful in everything save the persistency with which we were beset by calms and
light, baffling airs. By this time Ryan, too, had recovered to a certain extent; that is to say, he was able to
leave his bunk and to stagger up on deck for an hour or so at a time, but he was still frightfully weak; and it
often appeared to me, from the rather wild talk in which he sometimes indulged, that he had not thus far fully
recovered his mental balance.
CHAPTER NINE. 59
We made the land about six bells in the forenoon watch, and stood straight in for Shark Point, which we
hugged pretty closely, in order to cheat the current, which, as usual at that time of the year, was running out
pretty strongly. The sea-breeze was blowing half a gale, however, and despite the current the little Felicidad
slid over the ground bravely, arriving abreast the mouth of the creek to which we were bound about four bells
in the afternoon watch. We here cleared the schooner for action, sent the men to their quarters, and, with a
leadsman in the fore-chains, both on the port and on the starboard sides, and with Ryan, sketch-chart in hand,
conning the vessel, steered boldly into the creek. The soundings which we obtained at the entrance proved the
chart to be so far correct, and with our confidence thus strengthened we glided gently forward over the glassy
waters of the creek, every eye being directed anxiously ahead, for we knew not at what moment we might
encounter our enemy, nor in what force he might be. To me it appeared that we were acting in rather a
foolhardy manner in thus rushing blindfold as it were upon the unknown, and earlier in the day--in fact, just
after we had entered the river--I had suggested to Ryan the advisability of taking the schooner somewhat
higher up the stream and anchoring her in a snug and well-sheltered spot that we had noticed when last in the
river in the Barracouta, and sending the boats away at night to reconnoitre. But this happened to be one of the
captain's bad days--by which I mean that it was one of the days when the fever from which he had been
suffering seemed to partially regain its hold upon him, making him impatient, irritable, and unwilling to
receive anything in the shape of a suggestion from anybody; and my proposal was therefore scouted as
savouring of something approaching to timidity. I had long ago got over any such feeling, however; and even
now, when we momentarily expected to come face to face with the enemy, I found myself sufficiently calm
and collected to note and admire the many beauties of the scene as the creek opened up before us.
For the scene was beautiful exceedingly with a wild, tropical lavishness of strange and, in some cases,
grotesque forms and rich magnificence of colour that no words can adequately describe, and even the artist's
palette would be taxed to its utmost capacity to merely suggest. The creek was, as usual in the Congo, lined
with an almost unbroken, impassable belt of mangroves, their multitudinous roots, gnarled and twisted,
springing from the thick, mud-stained water, and presenting a confused, inextricable tangle to the eye, from
the deep shadows of which flitted kingfishers of many species and brilliant plumage; while above swayed and
rustled in the gentle breeze the delicate grey-green foliage of the trees themselves, now in full and luxuriant
leaf, affording a delicious contrast of cool green shadow, with the glints of dazzling sunshine that streamed
here and there through the verdant masses. Great clusters of magnificent orange-tinted orchids gleamed like
galaxies of golden stars between the mangrove trunks at frequent intervals; clumps of feathery bamboo
swayed gently in the soft warm breeze; the dense background of bush displayed every conceivable tint of
foliage, from brilliant gold to deepest purple bronze; and magnificent forest trees towered in stately majesty
over all, rearing their superb heads a hundred and fifty feet into the intense blue of the cloudless sky; while
everywhere, over bush and tree and withered stump, blazed in thousands the trailing blossoms of
brilliant-hued climbing plants that loaded the air to intoxication with the sweetness of their mingled perfumes.
Parrots and other gaily-plumaged birds flitted busily hither and thither with loud and--it must be
admitted--more or less discordant cries; inquisitive monkeys swung from branch to branch, and either peered
curiously at us as we passed, or dashed precipitately, with loud cries of alarm, into the concealment of the
deepest shadows at our approach; and at one point, where the belt of mangroves was interrupted, and a small,
open, grassy space reached down to the water's edge, a stately antelope stepped daintily down into the water,
as though to slake his thirst, but catching sight of the approaching schooner, bounded off again into the
contiguous bush, where he was instantly lost sight of in the sombre green gloom.
At a distance of about two miles from the mouth of the creek we reached a spot where it forked, one arm--the
wider of the two--running in a due east-by-south direction, while the other trended away to the
west-south-west, communicating--as we afterwards discovered--with another creek which, although too shoal
for navigation by sea-going craft, would have afforded us excellent facilities for a reconnaissance with the
boats. At this point the southern shore of the creek exhibited signs of cultivation, small patches of bush having
been cleared here and there and planted with maize, or sugarcane, or yams, a small reed-hut thatched with
palm-leaves usually standing in one corner of the plot, with a tethered goat close by, a few fowls, or other
traces of its being inhabited. Of the human inhabitants themselves, however, strangely enough, nothing was to
CHAPTER NINE. 60
be seen. But it was clear that we were nearing our goal; and word was passed along the deck for the men to
hold themselves prepared for instant action.
There were several memoranda jotted down upon the chart for our guidance, and among these was an
intimation to look out for a clump of exceptionally tall trees on the southern bank of the creek, under the
broad shadow of which the slave barracoons were stated to be built. A few minutes after passing the branch
creek already referred to we arrived at a bend, and as the schooner glided round it, and entered a new reach,
these trees swept into view; there could be no mistaking them, for they lifted their majestic heads--there were
five of them-- fully fifty feet clear above those of their brethren. Moreover, they stood quite close to the
margin of the creek, thus confirming the statement made upon the sketch-chart. But had there been any
lurking doubt in our minds about the matter they would have been quickly dispelled, for as we glided forward,
a small sandy beach--also referred to in the chart--was made out projecting from the southern bank, at which
some twenty or thirty large canoes lay with their bows hauled sufficiently out of the water to prevent their
going adrift. That a vigilant watch was being kept upon the waters of the creek became quickly apparent, for
we had scarcely made out the canoes when we saw several negroes rush down to one of them, launch it, and
paddle swiftly away up the creek and round another bend, while, as we advanced, a crowd of naked blacks,
armed with spears, shields, and muskets, gathered upon the beach, and, from their actions, seemed fully
prepared to forcibly resist any attempt on our part to effect a landing.
Still advancing up the creek, we gradually opened the vista of the reach beyond--that in which the canoe had a
few minutes previously vanished-- and at length, when only a short half-mile intervened between us and the
beach--which projected boldly nearly half-way across the channel--the main-mast of a schooner crept into
view beyond the concealment of the hitherto intervening bush and trees; and bringing our glasses to bear upon
her, we detected signs of great bustle and confusion on board her, and made out that her crew were busily
engaged in tricing up boarding nettings, and otherwise making preparations for her defence.
Ryan now ordered our ensign and pennant to be hoisted, thus boldly announcing at once our nationality and
the fact of our being an enemy-- an announcement which I should have deemed it perfectly justifiable to defer
until the last possible moment--and the schooner at once replied by hoisting French colours and firing a gun of
defiance. This greatly amused our people, to whom the act seemed a piece of ridiculous braggadocio--for the
stranger was no bigger than ourselves--but the laugh left their faces and was succeeded by a look of grim
resolution when presently we opened out another and a larger schooner and a heavy, handsome brigantine, the
first flying Spanish colours and the brigantine a black flag! But this was not all, for before we arrived abreast
the beach we had opened out still another schooner with the Spanish flag floating from her mast-head; and by
what we saw going on board the four craft it became evident that we had by no means caught these bold
rovers napping, and that we might confidently reckon upon meeting with a very warm reception. Moreover, it
was clear that, snug as was their place of concealment, and unlikely as it was to be discovered save, as in our
case, by betrayal, they had left nothing to chance, but had taken every possible precaution to insure their
safety, the four craft being moored in pairs, with springs on their cables, stern to stern right across the stream,
so that, the fair-way being very narrow, they would have to be fought and taken in succession, a necessity
which I at once recognised, and which, to my limited experience, seemed to militate very strongly against our
chances of success. It was, however, altogether too late now to hesitate or alter our plans; we had plunged
headlong and, as it were, blindfold into a hornet's nest from which nothing but the coolest courage and
determination could extricate us, and, while I had long ago completely conquered the feeling of trepidation
and anxiety that almost everybody experiences more or less when going into action for the first time, I could
not altogether suppress a doubt as to whether Ryan, in his then very indifferent state of health, possessed quite
all the coolness and clear-headedness as well as the nerve that I anticipated would be necessary to see us
safely out of our present entanglement.
CHAPTER TEN. 61
CHAPTER TEN.
A DISASTROUS EXPEDITION.
Upon arriving abreast the beach, which we were obliged to hug pretty closely in consequence of the
contracted width of the channel and the fact that the deepest water lay close to it, we found it occupied by
fully five hundred naked blacks, all of whom appeared to be profoundly excited, for they yelled continuously
at the top of their voices and fiercely brandished their weapons. They appeared to be acting under the
leadership of a very tall and immensely powerful man who wore a leopard-skin cloak upon his shoulders, and
a head-dress of brilliantly-coloured feathers. He was armed with two muskets, and had a ship's cutlass girt
about his waist. A white man--or a half-caste, it was difficult to tell which at that distance, so deeply bronzed
was he-- accompanied him; a man attired in a suit of white drill topped off with a broad-brimmed Panama hat
wrapped round with a white puggaree; and it appeared that all the excitement and animosity manifested by the
blacks at our approach was instigated by him, for we saw him speaking earnestly to the apparent leader of the
blacks, gesticulating violently in our direction as he did so, while the savage now and then turned to his
followers and addressed a few sentences to them which seemed to arouse them to a higher pitch of frenzy than
ever.
Beyond the sand beach a wide open space extended that had evidently at one time been carpeted with grass,
for small tufts and patches of it still remained here and there, but for the most part the rich, deep
chocolate-coloured earth was worn bare by the trampling of many feet. This open space was occupied by a
native village of considerable dimensions, the houses--or huts, rather--being for the most part square or
quadrangular structures, although there were a few circular ones among them, built of upright logs with panels
of mud and leaves between them, roofed in with palm-leaf thatch, the eaves projecting sufficiently at each end
to form a verandah some six or eight feet deep. At a little distance from the village, a hundred yards or so,
towered the clump of lofty trees under which the slave barracoons were said to be erected; but whether this
was so or not we could not tell, as a belt of bush interposed between us and the trees, affording an effectual
screen to any buildings that might stand beneath their shadow.
As the schooner glided up abreast of the beach, with the hands at the sheets, halliards, and downhauls, clewing
up and hauling down preparatory to running alongside the schooner nearest us, a great shout was raised by the
negroes, immediately followed by a confused discharge of their muskets and the hurling of a few spears, but
where the bullets went we never knew, for certainly none of them came near us, and as for the spears, they fell
short and dropped harmlessly into the water. To this salute we of course made no reply, as our business was
not to make war upon the natives unless absolutely compelled to do so, and three minutes later, having taken
as much room as the width of the creek would permit, our helm was eased over and the Felicidad swept round
toward the object of her first attack, which was the schooner flying French colours. A death-like and ominous
silence now prevailed on board the four craft that we were so audaciously attacking, and not a man was to be
seen on board either of them. This state of things continued until we were within forty fathoms of the nearest
craft, when a shouted command arose from on board the brigantine--which was the third craft away from
us--and instantly the ports of the two nearest schooners were thrown open, and a rattling broadside of nine
guns loaded with round and grape was poured into us with terrible effect, for we were almost bows-on at the
moment, and the shot swept our deck fore and aft. No less than eleven of our people went down before that
murderous discharge, and as five of them lay motionless, I greatly feared that the poor fellows would never
rise again. We reserved our fire until the sides of our own schooner and the Frenchman were almost touching,
and then gave him our broadside and the contents of Long Tom as well; then, as the Felicidad struck her
opponent pretty violently, Ryan waved his sword above his head, snatched a pistol from his belt with his left
hand, and shouted--
"Heave the grapnels! Come along, lads, follow me, and hurroo for ould Oireland!"
CHAPTER TEN. 62
The two schooners being fast together, every man Jack of us sprang after our leader, only to be confronted by
the boarding nettings triced up on board our antagonist, however; and as we sprang on the bulwarks and
commenced hacking away at the obstruction they opened a hot and most destructive fire upon us with their
muskets and pistols. I saw our men dropping to right and left of me, and then one of the tricing-lines of the
netting gave way--one of our lads had shinned aloft and cut it--and we half tumbled, half scrambled down
upon her deck all in a heap, and were instantly engaged in a desperate hand-to-hand struggle with her crew,
who greatly out-numbered ourselves, weakened as we were by the casualties that had already seriously
reduced our force. Moreover, we soon discovered that our antagonists were by no means the despicable
poltroons that we are perhaps too prone at all times to believe them to be; on the contrary, they fought
manfully, and held their own with a sturdy determination worthy of a better cause. The casualties were rapidly
multiplying on both sides, yet we were slowly driving the Frenchmen forward, when they were unexpectedly
reinforced by a crowd of at least sixty people who had come alongside in boats from the other craft, boarding
on the larboard side of the schooner, on which side, as it had been impossible for us to reach it with the
Felicidad, the nettings had not been triced up, and in an instant we found ourselves confronted by
overwhelming odds. Above the tumult of shouts and oaths and groans, of pistol-shots and clashing steel, I
heard Ryan give a ringing cheer and an encouraging shout of "Hurroo, bhoys, the more the merrier! Lay on
with a will, now, and make short work of it;" and I saw him at the head of a small division of our men laying
about him manfully and driving himself and his little band wedge-like through the thickest of the crowd, and I
turned and struck out right and left to get to his assistance, for it seemed to me that he must be speedily
overpowered. Before I could reach him, however, he suddenly threw up his hands, and striking one of them to
his temples sank in an inert heap to the deck, and at the same instant a sickening blow fell upon my head, the
whole scene whirled confusedly before my eyes for the fraction of an instant, and for a time I knew no more.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
When at length I recovered my senses I found that I was undressed and comfortably stowed away in a bunk in
a small but light and airy state-room that certainly was not my own, nor had I ever seen it before. The
snuggery was very tastefully fitted up, the bunk itself being of polished mahogany, enclosed with handsome
lace curtains, that I presumed were intended as a protection against the mosquitoes, the sharp, ringing buzz of
multitudes of which pertinacious tormentors I heard distinctly as I lay, weak, sick, and with a most distracting
headache, safe within the shelter of the curtains. These curtains were suspended from a polished brass rod that
traversed the underside of the deck above close to the ship's side, so that they sloped over the bunk
tent-fashion, an ingenious arrangement of frilling along the upper edge imparting a sufficient stiffness to the
flimsy material to cause it to stand up close to the planking, thus leaving no opening by which the persevering
little insects could obtain access to the interior. The bulkhead was panelled with pilasters of satin-wood
supporting a handsomely-carved cornice, and the panels, like the underside of the deck, were painted a
delicate cream colour, the former being decorated with a thin gilt moulding which formed the framework of a
series of beautifully-painted pictures of tropical flowers, butterflies, and birds. There was a polished
mahogany wash-stand in one corner of the room, and a small mahogany swing-table against the bulkhead
between the bunk and the closed door of the berth; a horsehair sofa ran along the ship's side, opposite the
doorway; a small lamp, apparently of silver, hung in gimbals from the ship's side, near the head of the bunk,
and the apartment was amply lighted by a large round open port or scuttle, through which the gentle sigh of
the evening breeze came pleasantly, and the rich, orange beams of the setting sun poured with so brilliant an
effulgence that I could scarcely endure the dazzling light, and was obliged to close my eyes again.
Where was I? Certainly not on board the Felicidad; for she had no such luxurious sleeping-accommodation as
this on board her. Then, if not on board her, I must most probably be on board the French schooner; a surmise
that was to some extent confirmed by the powerful effluvium that pervaded the ship, and proclaimed her
character beyond all question. Then there were sounds on deck--the voices of men laughing and jesting
together, and addressing occasional brutal remarks to, presumably, the wearers of certain chains, the clanking
of which, together with the sounds of boats or canoes coming alongside, and an occasional order issued by
some one nearly overhead, powerfully suggested the idea that the craft, whatever she was, was now taking in
CHAPTER TEN. 63
her human cargo. I soon recognised, however, that the orders and conversation generally were in Spanish, not
French; still, this proved nothing, for slavers were as a rule by no means particular as to the colour of the flag
that they fought or sailed under, often hoisting the first ensign that happened to come to hand.
But Spanish or French, the vessel on board which I now found myself could scarcely be other than one of
those that we had engaged earlier in the afternoon; and if so, I was in the hands of the enemy--an enemy, be it
said, that, if report spoke truly, showed but scant mercy to such of its legalised opponents as happened to fall
into his hands. Yet this scarcely tallied with the evident care that had been taken of me, and the exceedingly
comfortable--not to say luxurious--quarters wherein I now found myself.
I was parched with thirst, and looked round the state-room for some liquid wherewith I might quench it. There
was none; but I now observed a small mahogany shelf, close to the head of the bunk, which had hitherto
escaped my notice, and upon it stood a small silver hand-bell, quaint of shape, and elegantly adorned with
repousse work. With considerable pain and giddiness I contrived to turn my body far enough round to seize
the bell and ring it; in instant response to which the state-room door opened--revealing a glimpse of a small
but elegantly-- furnished cabin--and a young mustee lad, clad only in a white shirt thrown open at the neck,
and white drill trousers girt to his slender figure by a crimson sash, entered, and demanded in Spanish--
"Can I do anything for you, senor?"
"What is your name, my lad?" said I, answering his question with another.
"I am called Pedro, senor."
"Well then, Pedro," said I, "you can do two things for me, if you will. In the first place you can get me
something to drink, if you will be so kind; and, in the next, you can tell me the name of this ship and her
captain."
"I will willingly do both, senor, with pleasure. The drink first," answered the lad, with a bright smile that
disclosed an array of small and beautifully regular, ivory-white teeth. And, turning on his bare heel, he retired
as noiselessly as he had entered, only to reappear, a moment later, with a tumbler in one hand, and a large
glass jug full to within an inch of the brim with lemonade, upon the surface of which floated two or three
slices of the fruit and a curl of the rich golden green rind. He filled and handed me a bumper, which I instantly
drained and begged for another. The lad laughed, and handed me a second tumblerful, which I also drained.
The liquid was deliciously cool, and of that peculiar acid and slightly bitter flavour that seems so ineffably
refreshing when one is parched with fever.
"Another yet, senor?" asked Pedro, with a laugh, as I handed the glass back to him.
"Well--n-o--not just now, I think, thank you," answered I. "And now, Pedro, my boy, tell me about this ship
and her captain, and how I came to be here."
"That is easily done, senor," answered the lad. "In the first place, the brigantine is named the Francesca after
my mother; she hails from Havana; and is commanded by my father, Don Fernando de Mendouca; and you
were brought here by him, when he found you lying apparently dead upon the deck of the Requin after your
people had been driven off and compelled to beat a retreat."
"What?" I exclaimed. "Driven off? Compelled to retreat?"
"Certainly, senor," the lad answered proudly. "You surely did not seriously expect to capture all four of us
with that paltry schooner of yours, and so small a force as you brought against us, did you?"
CHAPTER TEN. 64
"Well," I admitted, "I must confess that when I saw what we had to contend with, I had my doubts as to the
issue. But then, you see, I was not the captain."
"Your captain must have been mad to have attacked us in broad daylight, as he did. And, indeed, he seemed to
be mad by the desperation with which he fought. I never saw anything like it in my life."
"You?" I exclaimed again. "Do you mean to say that you took part in the fight?"
"Certainly, senor; why not?" demanded Pedro haughtily. "True, I am very young; but I am strong. And I am
bigger than the little officer who was fighting near you when the French sailor struck you down with the
handspike."
"Yes; that is very true," I agreed, knowing, from the lad's description, that he was referring to Freddy
Pierrepoint. "So you were in the fight, and saw our captain, eh, Pedro? Can you tell me what became of him?"
"He was shot--by one of our men, I believe; and I think he was killed, but am not quite sure. He was carried
back into his own schooner by two of his men; and after the fight had lasted about two minutes longer a very
handsome, light-haired officer appeared to take the command, and seemed to order a retreat; for your men
steadily retired to their own vessel, and, fighting to the very last, cast her adrift, set the sails, and retired, hotly
pursued by the Requin."
"Phew!" exclaimed I; "we seem to have made rather a mess of it this time. Poor Ryan! I am sorry for him;
very sorry indeed. You are right, Pedro, our captain was mad; the poor fellow was badly wounded in the head
not long ago, and he had by no means recovered from his injuries. And now he is wounded again, if not killed
outright. I am very sorry for him. And now, Pedro, can you tell me how your father proposes to dispose of
me?"
"No, senor, I cannot. Nor can he at present, I think," answered the lad. "It was at my entreaty that he brought
you on board here; otherwise you would have been thrown overboard to the crocodiles that swarm in the creek
just here. He said that prisoners were only a useless encumbrance and an embarrassment; but somehow I liked
your looks as you lay, white and still, upon the French schooner's deck, and I begged him so hard to save you
that he could not deny me. And I am sure that we shall be friends--you and I--shall we not? There is no one on
board here that I can be intimate with--except my father, of course--and he is so much older than I, that I can
scarcely look upon him as a companion. Besides--"
The lad stopped, embarrassed.
"Besides what?" demanded I.
"Well--I--perhaps I ought not to say. You see we are strangers yet, and father has often said that it is a great
mistake to be confidential with strangers. Some other day perhaps I may feel that I can speak more freely.
And that reminds me that I have let you talk far too much already; you need rest and perfect quiet at present, if
you are to escape a bad attack of fever, so I shall leave you for a little while to sleep if you can. But first let
me bathe your wound for you, and bandage it afresh."
"You are very kind, Pedro," remarked I, as the lad with singular deftness proceeded to remove the stiff and
blood-stained bandage from my head. "And I must not allow you to leave me until I have thanked you-- as I
now do, very heartily--for having saved my life. Perhaps I may have an opportunity some day to show my
gratitude in some more convincing form than that of mere words, and if so, you may depend upon me to do
so. Meanwhile, I see no reason whatever why we should not be friends, and good friends too, if your father is
willing that it should be so. At the same time--but there, we can talk about that too, when we know a little
more of each other, and understand each other better. Thanks, Pedro; that is very soothing and comfortable
CHAPTER TEN. 65
indeed. Now, another drink of lemonade, if you please--by the way, you may as well leave the jug and glass
within my reach--and then, if you insist upon running away, why, good-bye for the present."
The lad left me, and I fell into a rather gloomy reverie upon the fate of poor Ryan and that of the gallant
fellows who had fallen in our ill-planned attack upon the occupants of this unlucky creek, as well as upon my
own future, the uncertainty of which stood out the more clearly the longer I looked at it. I think I must have
become slightly light-headed eventually, for twice or thrice I caught myself muttering aloud in a rather excited
fashion, now imagining myself to be in the thick of the fight once more, and anon fancying myself to be one
of the slaves that were imprisoned in the brigantine's noisome hold; until finally my ideas became so
hopelessly jumbled together that I could make nothing of them, and then followed a period of oblivion from
which I awoke to find the state-room faintly illumined by the turned-down lamp screwed to the ship's side
near the head of my bunk, and by the more brilliant rays of a lamp in the main cabin, the light of which
streamed through the lattices in the upper panel of the state-room door. The ship was heeling slightly, and I
knew by the gurgle and wash of water along her side that she was under weigh, but still in perfectly smooth
water, for I was unable to detect the slightest heave, or rising and falling motion in her. There was an
intermittent faint murmur of voices overhead, an occasional footfall on the deck, and now and then the creak
and clank of the wheel-chains following a call from the forecastle, all of which led me to the conclusion that
the brigantine was effecting the passage of the creek on her way seaward. This state of things continued for
perhaps a quarter of an hour, when I felt the vessel lift as if to a small swell, the wash and splash of the water
along her side became more pronounced, then came a light plunge, with a corresponding roar of the bow
wave; her heel perceptibly increased, and the pipe of the wind took a more sonorous sound; an expression or
two in tones that seemed to indicate a feeling of relief and satisfaction passed between the persons overhead,
and then a string of orders pealed forth from one of them, followed by the clatter of ropes thrown down on the
deck, and the cries of the crew as they made sail upon the vessel. The movements of the craft now rapidly
grew more lively; she heeled still more steeply under the pressure of the wind; the splash and rush of water
alongside grew momentarily more confused; bulkheads began to creak, and cabin-doors to jar and rattle upon
their hooks; the two people overhead began to pace the deck to and fro; the wind whistled and blustered with
increasing loudness through the rigging; and as the craft plunged more sharply I caught the sound of an
occasional clatter of spray upon the deck forward. This went on for some considerable time, and then I
became aware of the sound of surf booming distantly, but rapidly increasing in strength and volume, until
after a period of perhaps ten minutes its thunder seemed to suddenly fill the air, as the brigantine brought it
square abeam; then it rapidly died away again until it was lost altogether in the tumult of wind and sea that
now stormed about the vessel, and I knew that we had passed close to either Shark or French Point, and were
fairly at sea. This conviction was confirmed a few minutes later by the descent of some one--presumably the
captain--into the cabin, where, as I could tell by the clink of bottle and glass and the gurgle of fluids, he mixed
and tossed off a glass of grog, after which he retired to a state-room on the opposite side of the cabin and
closed the door. Then, lulled by the motion of the ship and the sound of the wind and sea, I gradually sank
into a feverish sleep, from which I did not fairly awake until the sun was streaming strongly in through the
glazed scuttle of my state-room next morning.
Shortly afterwards Pedro entered and bade me good-morning with a cheery smile.
"You are looking better, senor," he remarked; "your eyes are brighter, and there is more colour in your face. I
hope you were not greatly disturbed last night by the noise of getting the ship under weigh?"
"Not at all," I answered; "on the contrary, I did not awake until you were clear of your moorings and passing
down the creek. I remained awake until the ship seemed to be fairly at sea, and then I went to sleep again. I
suppose we are out of sight of land by this time?"
"Yes, thanks be to the blessed Virgin! And I hope we shall see no more until we make Anegada," was the
reply.
CHAPTER TEN. 66
"Anegada?" I queried. "Where is that?"
"What!" exclaimed Pedro, "do you not know Anegada? Then you have never been to the West Indies?"
"That is very true," I admitted. "I have never been to the other side of the Atlantic."
"I was certain of it, or you would know Anegada," answered Pedro. "Anegada is the most easterly of the
Virgin Islands; and my father always endeavours to pick it up on his westerly runs. It makes a good landfall,
and enables us to continue the rest of our run with confidence, and to dodge those pestilent cruisers of yours.
Anegada once sighted, my father knows every inch of the rest of the way, and could take his ship from thence
to Havana blindfold, I believe. But while we are talking this water is cooling, and I want to bathe your wound
and bind it up afresh. So; am I hurting you?"
"Not at all," I answered. "Your touch is as light as a woman's. By the way, where are my clothes, Pedro? I
shall turn out as soon as you have done with me, if you will kindly send somebody with some water. That
ewer seems to be empty."
"It can soon be filled, however," remarked the lad. "As to your clothes, they are forward, drying. They were so
stained and stiff with blood that you could not possibly have put them on again, so I had them washed. You
see my clothes would not be big enough for you, while my father's would be too big; so you will be obliged to
make shift with what you have until we reach Havana. I am glad that you feel well enough to dress, for I am
anxious that you should meet my father as soon as possible. I fervently hope that you will succeed in
impressing him favourably."
"Why?" I demanded, laughingly. "Is he so very formidable a personage, then?"
"Formidable enough, for one in your situation, if he should happen to take a dislike to you," the lad answered
gravely. "Not that I have very much fear of that, however," he continued; "and in any case, my father is all
right except when anything has occurred to vex him."
"Well, I suppose that holds good of most people," I remarked. "However, we must hope for the best. And
now, since you have coopered me up so nicely, if you will let me have some water and my clothes, I will
make my toilet as far as I can."
Upon leaving my bunk I found that I was still very shaky, with a tendency to giddiness, added to which my
head was aching most distressingly; but I thought it possible that these disagreeable symptoms would perhaps
pass off as soon as I found myself in the open air; I therefore dressed as quickly as possible, and made my
way on deck.
The morning was brilliantly fine, with a slashing breeze from about east, a trifle northerly, and the brigantine
was bowling along before it, with all studding-sails set on the starboard side, in a manner that fairly made me
stare with astonishment, although I had been accustomed to fast vessels. The Francesca was an exceedingly
fine and handsome vessel, of enormous beam, and sitting very low upon the water, but the pace at which she
was travelling conclusively demonstrated that, beamy as she was, her lines must be the very perfection of
draughting; indeed this was proved by the ease with which she appeared to glide along the surface of, rather
than through, the water, her progress being marked by singularly little disturbance of the element, considering
her very high rate of speed. Her sails were magnificently cut, setting to a nicety, and drawing to perfection,
and they were white enough to have graced the spars of a yacht. I noticed, too, that the inside of the bulwarks,
her deck-fittings, brass-work, and guns, were all scrupulously clean and bright, while every rope was carefully
coiled upon its proper pin, the principal halliards and sheets being Flemish-coiled on the deck. In fact, the
whole appearance of the vessel was far more suggestive of the British man-o'-war than of the slaver. The
watch on deck consisted of about a dozen men--one or two of whom looked remarkably like Englishmen--and
CHAPTER TEN. 67
it did not escape me that, one and all, they had the look of resolute, reckless fellows, who would be quite
ready to fight to the last gasp, if need be. And I was impressed, at the very first glance, with the fact that they
were all quietly and steadily going about their work, talking quietly together, and behaving without a single
trace of that lawlessness that I had expected to prevail among a slaver's crew.
CHAPTER ELEVEN. 68
CHAPTER ELEVEN.
DON FERNANDO DE MENDOUCA.
The most striking figure in the ship, however, was, beyond all question, a tall, well-built man, with a
firmly-knit, powerful frame, every movement of which was eloquent of health and strength and inexhaustible
endurance, while it was characterised by that light and easy floating grace that is only to be acquired by the
habitual treading of such an unstable platform as a ship's deck. He was very dark, his hair, moustache, and
beard being coal-black and wavy, while his skin--or at least the exposed parts that met my eye--was tanned to
so deep a bronze as to give him quite the complexion of a mulatto. But there was not a drop of black blood in
him; his nose alone--thin, shapely, and slightly aquiline--was evidence enough of that. He was clad in the
inevitable suit of white drill, girt about the waist with a crimson cummerbund; his head-covering was the
equally inevitable Panama broad-brimmed hat, and his otherwise naked feet were thrust into a pair of Turkish
slippers of red morocco, embroidered with gold thread. And, early as was the hour, he held a half-smoked
cigar between his large, even, white teeth. As I emerged from the companion he was standing to windward,
near the helmsman, critically eyeing the set of the brigantine's beautifully cut canvas; and upon seeing me
he--without moving from his position or offering me his hand--bowed with all the stately grace of a Spanish
hidalgo, and exclaimed in Spanish, in a firm, strong, and decidedly musical voice--
"Good-morning, senor! I congratulate you upon being sufficiently recovered to leave your cabin. I suppose I
ought, by every rule of good manners, to bid you welcome to my ship; but I have discarded conventional
forms of speech--among other things--and now make a practice of speaking only the strict truth; and--as Pedro
has probably told you--I had little to do with your being here beyond the mere issue of the order for your
transfer from the deck of the French schooner. But, if I cannot at this moment truthfully bid you welcome, I
can at least say that I sincerely hope we shall be good friends; and should that come about, you shall be
welcome not only to my ship, but, as we Spaniards say, to my house and all that is in it."
"Thank you, Don Fernando," I answered. "I can easily understand that you find it exceedingly difficult to
regard me as a welcome guest, and believe me, I am not going to be so foolish as to feel hurt at your frankly
telling me so. And I heartily unite with you in the hope that as long as we may be compelled into intimate
association with each other, we shall be able to forget that our professions are antagonistic, and that personally
it may be quite possible for us to be good friends. And now, senor, permit me to seize this, the first
opportunity that has presented itself, to express to you my most grateful thanks for having saved my life
yesterday--"
"Stop, senor, if you please," he interrupted, holding up his hand. "I have already explained to you that I had
absolutely nothing to do with that beyond the mere issuing of an order. To be perfectly frank with you, I was
in no mood to show mercy to any one just then, for you and your pestilent, meddlesome crew fought like
fiends, and cost me several good men that I could ill spare. Your gratitude, therefore," and I thought I detected
an echo of something very like scorn in his voice, "is due solely to my boy Pedro, whose whim of saving you
I did not even then care to thwart. But enough of this; you are my guest, and may, if you will, become my
friend. I hope your accommodation is to your liking?"
"Excellent, indeed," answered I, glad enough to get away from a topic that seemed to be somewhat distasteful
to my host. "Excellent, indeed, and far more luxurious than anything to which I have been accustomed on
board my own ship."
"Yes," he smiled; "the English are clearly anxious that their officers shall not become enervated through
overmuch luxury. I have been on board several of your ships, and saw but little to admire in the
accommodation provided for and the arrangements made for the comfort of their officers. How long have you
been on the West African station, senor?"
CHAPTER ELEVEN. 69
I told him, and the conversation gradually took a more agreeable turn, my host proving himself, not only a
thorough man of the world, but also surprisingly well educated and well read for a Spaniard. He was well
acquainted with several of our best English writers, and professed an admiration for our literature as great and
thorough as was his evident hatred of ourselves and our institutions as a nation. He had very considerably
thawed out of his original coldness of manner, and was discussing with much animation and in well-chosen
language the British drama, and especially Shakspeare, when we were summoned to breakfast and found
Pedro waiting for us in the cabin. The lad was very demonstrative in his delight at finding me so much better,
and I could see that he was also greatly pleased--and I thought relieved--at the prospect of amicable if not
cordial relations becoming established between his father and myself.
I have said that the morning was brilliantly fine, and so it was; but I had noticed even when I first went on
deck, that there was a certain pallor and haziness in the blue of the sky, the appearance of which I did not
altogether like; and when after breakfast we went on deck-- Mendouca with his sextant in his hand, for the
purpose of finding the ship's longitude--our first glance aloft showed us that a large halo had gathered round
the sun, and certain clouds that had risen above the horizon were carrying windgalls in their skirts. I drew
Mendouca's attention to these portents, and he agreed with me that we were probably about to have bad
weather. And sure enough we had, for that afternoon it came on to blow heavily from the eastward, and after
running before it as long as we dared--indeed a good deal longer than in my opinion was at all prudent--we
were compelled to heave-to; and we thus remained for sixty-two consecutive hours, during which Mendouca
fumed and raved like a madman; for the sea was making clean breaches over the brigantine during the whole
of that time, so that a considerable portion of our bulwarks and everything that was not securely lashed was
washed away, and, worst of all, it was imperatively necessary to keep the hatches battened down during the
entire continuance of the gale, thus depriving the unhappy slaves pent up below of all air save such as could
penetrate through a small opening in the fore-bulkhead, communicating with the forecastle, and used for the
purpose of gaining access to the hold in bad weather, in order to supply the slaves with food and water. As,
however, the sea was breaking more heavily over the fore-deck than anywhere else, the utmost care had to be
exercised in opening the fore-scuttle, a favourable opportunity having to be watched for, and the hatch
whipped off and on again in a moment. Very little air, therefore, was obtainable from that source, and none
whatever from elsewhere; the blacks, therefore, were dying below like rotten sheep, of suffocation, as was
reported by those who came up from time to time after attending to the most pressing wants of the miserable
creatures. And to make what was already bad enough still worse, it was impossible to remove the dead from
among the living so long as the bad weather continued.
When at length the gale moderated and the sea went down sufficiently to permit of sail being once more
made, the hatches were lifted; and never to my dying day shall I forget the awful, poisonous stench that arose
from the brigantine's hold. The fumes could be actually seen rising through the hatchway in the form of a
dense steam that continued to pour up for several minutes, and when the men were ordered below to pass up
the dead bodies, even the toughest and most hardened of them recoiled from the task, and staggered away
forward literally as sick as dogs. At length, however, after the lapse of about a quarter of an hour, a gang
ventured down into the now comparatively pure atmosphere, and the work of passing up the dead bodies
began. I stood to windward, as near the hatchway as I could get without being sickened by the still pestilential
effluvium that even now arose from the hold, and watched the operation, not from any feeling of morbid
curiosity, but in order that I might become aware, by the evidence of my own eyesight, of some of the blacker
horrors of this most foul and accursed trade, and the sights that I then witnessed literally beggar description.
The unhappy wretches had been packed so tightly together that they had been unable to move more than an
inch or so, while the slave-deck was so low that a sitting posture with the head bowed to the knees and the
hands clasped in front of them had been absolutely necessary; and the miserable creatures had died and
stiffened in this cramped and painful posture; it was gruesome enough, therefore, to see the bodies passed up
and thrown overboard in so woeful an attitude; but the worst sight of all was in those cases where, in the dying
agony, some unfortunate wretch had writhed his head back until it looked as though the neck had become
dislocated, thus revealing the distorted features, with the eye balls rolled back until only the whites were
visible, and the mouth wide open as though gasping for air. The brigantine had left the Congo with four
CHAPTER ELEVEN. 70
hundred and fifty-five slaves on board, about three-fifths of whom were men, the remainder being young
women and children; and of these every woman and child, and one hundred and twenty-seven men had
succumbed, leaving, out of the grand total, the miserable moiety of only one hundred and forty-six survivors!
It was horrible beyond the power of words to express, and to crown all, as the work went on, the water in the
ship's wake became alive with sharks, who fought and struggled with each other for their prey, literally tearing
the bodies limb from limb in their frantic struggles to secure a morsel. It was a sight that, one might have
thought, would have excited pity in the breast of the arch-fiend himself, but with Mendouca it only had the
effect of goading him into a state of mad, ungovernable fury. "See," he exclaimed at last, stalking up to me
and grasping me savagely by the arm--"see the result of the thrice accursed meddlesome policy of your
wretched, contemptible little England and the countries who have united with her in the hopeless task of
suppressing the slave-trade! But for that, these negroes might have been comfortably stowed in three or four
ships, instead of being packed like herrings in a barrel in the hold of one only, and then all this loss of life and
money might have been avoided. By this infernal mishap I am a loser to the extent of over thirty thousand
dollars, and all for what? Why, simply because you British, with your sickly sentimentality, choose to regard
the blacks as human beings like yourselves. You are all virtuous indignation because forsooth we slave-traders
have bethought ourselves of the plan of removing them from their own country, where their lives would have
been passed in a condition of the lowest and most degrading barbarism, and transporting them to another
where they can be rendered useful and valuable; where, in return for their labour, they are fed, clothed, tended
in sickness, and provided with comfortable homes; where their lives may be passed in peace and comfort and
perfect freedom from all care; and where, if indeed they are human, like ourselves, which I very much doubt,
they may be converted to Christianity. You violently object to this amelioration of the lot of the negro savage;
but you shut your eyes to the fact that thousands of your own countrymen and women are actually slaves of
the most abject type, made so by your own insatiable and contemptible craving for cheap clothing, cheap
food, cheap every thing, to satisfy which, and to, at the same time, gratify his own perfectly legitimate desire
to make a living, the employer of labour has to grind his employes down in the matter of wage until their lives
are a living lingering death to them, in comparison with which the future of those blacks down below will be a
paradise. Bah! such hypocrisy sickens me. And yet, in support of this disgusting Pharisaism, you, and
hundreds more like you, claiming to be intelligent beings, willingly endure hardships and face the perils of
sickness, shipwreck, shot and steel with a persistent heroism that almost compels one's admiration, despite the
mistaken enthusiasm which is its animating cause. Nay, do not speak, senor; I know exactly what you would
say; I have heard, until I have become sick of it, the canting jargon of those meddlesome busy-bodies who,
knowing nothing of the actual facts of slavery, or for their own purposes, hunt out exceptional cases of
tyranny which they hold up to public execration as typical of the system--I have heard it all so often that I
have long passed the point where it was possible to listen to it with even the faintest semblance of patience; so
do not attempt the utterly useless and impossible task of trying to convert me, I pray you, lest in my anger I
should say words that would offend you."
Good heavens! did the man suppose that he had not offended me already? I saw, however, that I might as well
attempt to quell the hurricane as argue with him in his present mood; moreover I am but a poor hand at
argument; I therefore bowed in silence, turned away and went below, fully determined to have the matter out
with the fiery Spaniard the first time that I caught him in a more amenable temper. Pedro would have followed
me, and indeed attempted to do so, but as I entered the companion, I heard his father call him back and bid
him remain on deck.
With the moderating of the gale the wind had come out dead ahead, and the brigantine was consequently on a
taut bowline on the starboard tack when the hatches were opened and the bodies of the suffocated negroes
were passed up on deck and thrown overboard. She remained so for the rest of that day; but when I awoke
next morning, I at once became aware, from the steady, long, pendulum-like roll of the ship, that she was once
more before the wind, and I naturally concluded that the wind had again become fair. To my great surprise,
however, when I emerged from my state-room and caught a glimpse of the tell-tale compass hanging in
gimbals in the skylight opening of the main cabin, I saw that the ship was heading to the eastward!
Wondering what might be the meaning of this, I went on deck, but neither Mendouca nor Pedro was visible,
CHAPTER ELEVEN. 71
and I did not choose to question the mate--a surly, hang-dog, cut-throat-looking scoundrel, who had chosen to
manifest an implacable hostility to myself from the moment that our eyes had first met. However, I had not
been on deck long when Mendouca made his appearance, and in response to his salutation I said--
"Good-morning, captain; I see you have shifted your helm during the night."
I saw, when it was too late, that my remark was an unfortunate one, for Mendouca scowled as he replied--
"Yes; it was not worth while to make the trip across the Atlantic and back for the mere purpose of landing one
hundred and forty odd negroes-- even could we have got them over without further loss, which I greatly
doubt--so I am going back to the coast for more--unless I can pick them up without going so far," he added,
after a momentary pause, and with a peculiar look which I could not at the moment fathom. "And all this loss
of life, and money, and time, and all this extra risk are forced upon me by the meddlesome policy of Great
Britain. Great! Faugh! Could she but see herself as others see her she would, for very shame, strike out that
vaunting prefix, and take that obscure place among the nations which properly befits her. Senor Dugdale, do
you value your life?"
"Well, yes, to a certain extent I do," I replied. "It is the only one I have, you see; and were I to lose it the loss
would occasion a considerable amount of distress to my friends. For that reason, therefore, if for no other, I
attach a certain amount of value to it, and feel bound to take care of it so far as I may, with honour."
"Very well, then," remarked Mendouca, with a sneer, "so far as you can with honour, refrain, I pray you, from
thrusting your nationality into my face; for I may as well tell you that I have the utmost hatred and contempt
for the English; I would sweep every one of them off the face of the earth if I could; and some day, when this
feeling is particularly strong upon me, I may blow your brains out if I happen to remember that you are an
Englishman."
"I hope it will not come to that, Don Fernando, for many reasons," I remarked, with a rather forced laugh,
"and among them I may just mention the base cowardice of murdering an unarmed man. I rather regret that
you should be so completely as you appear to be under the dominion of this feeling of hatred for my nation; it
must be as unpleasant for you as it is for me that we are thus forcibly thrown together; but it need not last
long; you can put me out of the ship at the first land that we touch, and I must take my chance of making my
way to a place of safety. It will be unpleasant for me, of course, but it will remove from you a constant source
of temptation to commit murder."
Mendouca laughed--it was rather a harsh and jarring laugh, certainly-- and said--
"Upon my honour as a Spanish gentleman, you appear to be mightily concerned to preserve me from the
crime of bloodshed, young gentleman. But do you suppose it would not be murder to put you ashore, as you
suggest, at the first land that we reach? Why, boy, were I to do so, within six hours you would be in the hands
of the natives, and lashed to the torture-stake! And would not your death then be just as much my act as
though I were to shoot you through the head this moment?"
And to my astonishment--and somewhat to my consternation, I must admit-- he whipped a pistol out of his
belt and levelled it full at my head, cocking it with his thumb as he did so.
"I presume it would," I answered steadily; "and on the whole I believe that to shoot me would be the more
merciful act of the two. So fire by all means, senor, if you must take my life."
"By the living God, but you carry the thing off bravely, young cockerel!" he exclaimed. "Do you dare me to
fire?"
CHAPTER ELEVEN. 72
"Yes," I exclaimed stoutly. "I dare you to fire, if you can bring yourself to perpetrate so rank an act of
cowardice!"
"Well," he returned, laughing, as he lowered the pistol, uncocked it, and replaced it in his belt; "you are right.
I cannot; at least not in cold blood. I dare say I am pretty bad, according to your opinion, but my worst enemy
cannot accuse me of cowardice. And, as to putting you ashore, I shall do nothing of the kind; on the contrary,
widely as our opinions at present diverge upon the subject of my calling, I hope yet to induce you to join me.
You can be useful to me," he added, in pure English, to my intense astonishment; "I want just such a cool,
daring young fellow as yourself for my right hand, to be a pair of extra eyes and ears and hands to me, and to
take command in my absence. I can make it well worth your while, so think it over; I do not want an answer
now."
"But I must answer now," I returned, also in English; "I cannot allow a single minute to elapse without
assuring you, Don Fernando, that you altogether mistake my character if you suppose me capable of any
participation whatever in a traffic that I abhor and detest beyond all power of expression; a traffic that inflicts
untold anguish upon thousands, and, not infrequently, I should imagine, entails such a fearful waste of human
life as I witnessed yesterday. Moreover, it has just occurred to me that when we attacked you and your friends
in the creek this brigantine was flying a black flag. If that means anything it means, I presume, that you are a
pirate as well as a slaver?"
"Precisely," he assented. "I am both. Some day, when we know each other better, I will tell you my story, and,
unlikely as you may now think it, I undertake to say that when you have heard it you will acknowledge that I
have ample justification for being both."
"Do not believe it, Don Fernando," I answered. "Your story is doubtless that of some real or fancied wrong
that you have suffered at the hands of society; but no wrong can justify a man to become an enemy to his race.
I will hear your story, of course, if it will afford you any satisfaction to tell it me; but I warn you that neither it
nor anything that you can possibly say will have the effect of converting me to your views."
"You think so now, of course," he answered, with a laugh; "but we shall see, we shall see. Meanwhile, there is
my steward poking his ugly visage up through the companion to tell us that breakfast is ready, so come below,
my friend, and take the keen edge off your appetite."
It was on the day but one after this, that, about four bells in the forenoon watch, one of the hands, having
occasion to go aloft to perform some small job of work on the rigging, reported a strange sail ahead. The
brigantine was still running before a fair wind, but the breeze had fallen light, and it looked rather as though
we were in for a calm spell, with thunder, perhaps, later on. We were going about four or maybe four and a
half knots at the time, and the report of the strange sail created as much excitement on board us as though we
had been a man-o'-war. For some time there seemed to be a considerable amount of doubt as to the course that
the stranger was steering; for, as seen from aloft, she appeared to be heading all round the compass; but it was
eventually concluded that, in general direction, her course was the same as our own.
As the morning wore on the wind continued to drop, while a heavy bank of thunder-cloud gathered about the
horizon ahead, piling itself steadily but imperceptibly higher, until by noon it was as much as Mendouca could
do to get the sun for his latitude. By this time we had risen the stranger until we had brought her hull-up on
the extreme verge of the horizon; and the nearer that we drew to her the more eccentric did her manoeuvres
appear to be; she was heading all round the compass, and but for the fact that we could see from time to time
that her yards were being swung, and some of her canvas hauled down and hoisted again in the most
extraordinary manner, we should have set her down as a derelict. I ought, by the way, to have said that she
was a small brig of, apparently, about one hundred and forty tons. Mendouca was thoroughly perplexed at her
extraordinary antics; his glass was scarcely ever off her, and when he removed it from his eye it was only to
hand it to me and impatiently demand whether I could not make out something to elucidate the mystery. At
CHAPTER ELEVEN. 73
length, after witnessing through the telescope some more than usually extraordinary performance with the
canvas, I remarked--
"I think there is one thing pretty clear about that brig, and that is that she is in the possession of people who
have not the remotest notion how to handle her."
"Eh? what is that you say?" demanded Mendouca. "Don't know how to handle her? Well, it certainly appears
that they do not," as the fore-topsail-halliard was started and the yard slid slowly down the mast, leaving the
topgallant-sail and royal fully set above it. "By Jove, I have it!" he suddenly continued, slapping his thigh
energetically. "Yonder brig is in possession of a cargo of slaves who have somehow been allowed to rise and
overpower her crew! Yes, by heaven, that must be the explanation of it! At all events we will run down and
see. Blow, good breeze, blow!" and he whistled energetically after the manner of seamen in want of a wind.
The breeze, however, utterly refused to blow; on the contrary, it was growing more languid every minute,
while our speed had dwindled down to a bare two knots; and the thunder-clouds were piling up overhead
blacker and more menacing every minute. At length, when we were a bare three miles from the brig, the
helmsman reported that we no longer had steerage-way, and as the Francesca slowly swung round upon her
heel, bringing the brig broad on her starboard quarter, Mendouca stamped irritably on the deck, and cursed the
weather, the brig, the brigantine; in fact he cursed "everything above an inch high," as we say in the navy
when we wish to describe a thorough, comprehensive outburst of profanity. At length, having given free vent
to his impatience, he stood for a moment intently studying the lowering heavens, strode across the deck and
glanced through the open skylight at the barometer, then turned to me and said, in English--
"What think you, Dugdale; would it be safe, in your opinion, to send away a couple of boats to take
possession of that brig? The glass has dropped nothing to speak of since it was set this morning, and that stuff
up there promises nothing worse than a sharp thunderstorm and a pelting downpour of rain. The boats could
reach her in forty minutes, when their crews would take possession, shorten sail, and wait for us to join. I'll be
bound there is sufficient `black ivory' aboard there to spare me the necessity to return to the coast and to make
good all my losses."
In my turn I too looked at the sky intently.
"I hardly know what to make of it," I answered at length. "It may be, as you say, that there is nothing worse
than thunder brewing up there; yet there is something in the look of those clouds that I do not altogether like;
their colour, for instance, is too livid a purple for thunder alone, according to my idea, and I do not like the
way in which they are working; why, they are as busy as a barrel of yeast; depend on it, senor, there is wind,
and plenty of it, up there. As to how long it may be before the outburst comes, you have had more experience
than I of this part of the world, and ought to know the weather better than I do."
"Well, I dare say I do," he assented, with apparent relief, and again raised his eyes and anxiously scrutinised
the clouds. "I'll risk it," he at length exclaimed, decisively, and forthwith turned and issued the necessary
orders to his chief mate, who trundled away forward, bawling to the men as he went; and in a few minutes all
was bustle and activity about our decks, the arm-chests being brought on deck, and the selected boats' crews
coming aft and receiving their weapons from Mendouca himself, while the gunner served out the ammunition.
The rascals were a smart, active lot--I will give them credit for so much--and in less than ten minutes from the
announcement of Mendouca's decision, the boats, two of them, with ten men in each, were in the glassy water,
and their crews stretching out lustily for the brig.
It was perfectly evident to me that Mendouca was possessed by a feeling that his eagerness to acquire the
brig's cargo of negroes had warped his judgment and egged him on to an unduly risky course of action in
sending his boats and so many of his people away in the face of that threatening sky; the boats had no sooner
shoved off than he became consumed by anxiety, and, oblivious of the suffocating heat and closeness of the
CHAPTER ELEVEN. 74
atmosphere, proceeded to pace the deck to and fro with hasty, impatient strides, halting abruptly at frequent
intervals to scrutinise the aspect of the sky, and, anon, to watch the progress of the boats. The crews of the
latter were evidently quite aware that the expedition upon which they were engaged was by no means free
from peril, for until they had reached a distance too great to enable us to distinguish their actions, I could see
first one and then another glancing aloft and over his shoulder at the sky, the action being invariably followed
by the exhibition of increased energy at the oar. They were clearly doing their utmost, one and all; in fact the
boats were making a downright race of it for the brig; the men bending their backs and throwing their whole
strength into every stroke, churning the oily-looking surface of the water into foam with their oar-blades, and
leaving a long, wedge-like wake behind them, while the two mates in charge, and who had hold of the
yoke-lines, were bowing forward at every stroke in true racing style. Yet, rapid as their progress was, it did
not satisfy Mendouca, who, every time that he paused to watch their progress, stamped upon the deck with
impatience, and cursed the oarsmen for a set of lazy, good-for-nothing lubbers.
And there was ample, justification for his anxiety; for scarcely had the boats reached a quarter of a mile from
the Francesca than there was a sudden and very perceptible darkening of the heavens, followed by a vivid
flash of lightning low down toward the eastern horizon, the low, muffled boom of the thunder coming
reverberating across the glassy water with the sound of a cannon-shot rolled slowly along a timber floor.
CHAPTER TWELVE. 75
CHAPTER TWELVE.
AN AWFUL CATASTROPHE.
Presently, after one of his frequent halts, Mendouca turned and gave orders to shorten sail. "Clew up and haul
down fore and aft; stow everything except the main-staysail; and see that you make a snug furl of it, men!" he
cried; adding, as he turned to me--
"We might as well be snugging down as doing nothing; and perhaps the sight will put some life into the
movements of those lazy rascals yonder," pointing with his cigar as he spoke towards the boats.
"Possibly," I agreed. "And in any case it appears to me that the time has fully arrived for the commencement
of such preparations as you may think fit to make for the coming blow, which, in my humble opinion, is going
to be rather sharp while it lasts."
"Yes; no doubt," Mendouca assented. "Curse those lazy hounds! Have they no eyes in their heads to see what
is brewing? If they don't wake up, they will have the squall upon them before they reach the brig."
"In which case," said I, "you may say good-bye to the brig and to the slaves in her; and may think yourself
lucky if you are able to recover your boats."
I do not know whether he heard me or not. I think it probable that he did; but he made no reply, turning his
back upon me, and keeping his glances alternately roving between the boats and the sky, which latter had by
this time assumed a most sinister and threatening aspect, so much so, indeed, that had I been in Mendouca's
place I should have recalled the boats without another moment's delay. But I could see that he had set his heart
upon securing possession of the brig, and was willing to run a considerable amount of risk in the effort to do
so.
At length, when the boats were, according to my estimation, a little better than half-way to the brig, another
flash of lightning, vivid and blinding, blazed forth, this time from almost overhead, only the very smallest
perceptible interval of time elapsing between it and the accompanying thunder-crash, which was so
appallingly loud and startling that for a moment I felt fairly deaf and stunned with it, and before I had fairly
recovered my dazed senses the rain came pelting down in drops as large as crown-pieces. The rain lasted for
only three or four seconds, however, and then ceased again abruptly, while almost at the same instant a brief
scurry of wind swept past us, just lifting the staysail--which was by this time the only sail remaining set on
board us--and causing it to flap feebly for a moment, when it was once more calm again; but we could trace
the puff a long distance to the westward by its track along the oily surface of the water.
Mendouca turned to me with an oath. "When it comes, it will come to us dead on end from the brig!" he
exclaimed. "It is just like my cursed luck! Do you think it is too late to recall the boats?"
"Yes," I answered decidedly. "They are now nearer the brig than they are to us, and their best chance certainly
is to keep on as they are going."
Mendouca turned and bestowed upon the boats yet another long scrutinising glance; and then said, with his
eyes still fixed upon them--
"I do not agree with you. I think they are quite as near to us as they are to the brig; and if they keep on and the
squall bursts before they reach the brig, they will have to pull against it, and may perhaps not fetch her after
all, whereas if I recall them, and they are overtaken before they reach us, they will have the wind all in their
favour instead of dead against them."
CHAPTER TWELVE. 76
"That is very true," I assented. "It appears to me, however, that the whole question hinges upon the point
whether they are nearer to us or to the brig; and in my opinion they are much nearer to the latter."
For fully another minute Mendouca continued to watch the boats; then he suddenly exclaimed--
"I shall recall them. Clear away the bow gun there, and fire it with a blank cartridge; and, Pedro, get out the
recall signal, and stand by to run it up to the main-truck at the flash of the gun."
The signal was made, the boom of the gun seeming to echo with a hollow, long-drawn-out reverberation
between sea and sky; and within a minute the boats, with seeming reluctance, had turned and were pulling
back to the brigantine.
Meanwhile the heavens had continued to darken, until, by the time that the boats had turned, the whole scene
had become involved in a murky twilight, through the gloom of which the brig, still with every stitch of
canvas set, could with difficulty be made out. Still, although it seemed to me that the brooding squall might
burst upon us at any moment, the atmosphere maintained its ominous condition of stagnation until the boats
had reached within some four cables' lengths--or somewhat less than half-a-mile--of us; when, as I was
intently watching their progress, I saw the sky suddenly break along the horizon just above them, the clouds
appearing as though rent violently apart for a length of some ten or twelve degrees of arc, while the rent was
filled with a strong yet misty glare of coppery-yellow light, in the very centre of which the brig stood out
sharply-defined, and as black as a shape cut out of silhouette paper.
"Here it comes, at last!" I exclaimed; and as the words passed my lips I felt a spot of rain upon my face, and in
another instant down it came, a regular deluge, but only for about half a minute, when it ceased abruptly, and,
looking toward the brig, I saw a long line of white foam sweeping down towards her.
"God help those poor, unhappy blacks!" I cried. "If that craft's spars and rigging happen to be good she will
turn the turtle with them, and probably not one of them will escape!"
"It is a just punishment upon them for rising against the crew," exclaimed Mendouca savagely; "but if I had
only succeeded in laying hands upon them I would have inflicted a worse punishment upon them than
drowning. I would have--ah! look at that! Now the squall strikes her, and over she goes. Taken flat aback, by
heaven!"
It was as Mendouca had said; the brig when struck by the squall happened to be lying head on to it, and her
topmasts bent like reeds ere they yielded to the pressure, and snapped short off by the caps. Then, gathering
stern-way, she paid off until she was nearly broadside on to us, and we could see that her stern was becoming
more and more depressed as it was forced against the comparatively stubborn and unyielding water, while her
bow was raised proportionally high in the air. Foot by foot, and second by second, her stern sank deeper and
deeper into the water until the latter was flush with her taffrail, and then, with the aid of a telescope, I saw it
go foaming and boiling in upon her deck, driving the dense crowd of negroes forward foot by foot. By this
time her forefoot was raised clear out of the water, and, enveloped in mist and spray though she was, I could
see the bright, glassy glare of the sky beyond and below it. For a second she remained thus; then her bow rose
still higher in the air, and, with a long sliding plunge, she disappeared stern foremost.
"Gone to the bottom, every mother's son of them--as they richly deserved!" exclaimed Mendouca, with a
savage curse. "And if those loafing vagabonds of mine don't bestir themselves they will follow in
double-quick time! What do you think, Dugdale? Shall we be able to save them?"
I shook my head. "I would not give very much for their chance," I replied. "It is a pity that you recalled them,
I think. They would have had time to reach the brig, and could at least have got her before the wind, even had
they no time to do more."
CHAPTER TWELVE. 77
"Yes," he assented; "as it happened, they could. But how was a man to know that the squall was going to hold
off so long, and then burst at the most unfortunate moment possible?"
All this, it must be understood, had happened in a very much shorter time than it has taken to tell of it, and the
squall had not reached as far as the boats when the brig disappeared; while, as for us, we were lying
motionless in a still stagnant atmosphere, with our starboard broadside presented fair to the approaching
squall. But as the last words left Mendouca's lips the squall swooped down upon the boats, and in an instant
they were lost sight of in a smother of mist and spray, while the roar of the approaching squall, that had come
to us at first as a faint low murmur, grew deeper and hoarser, and more deadly menacing in its overpowering
volume of tone. Then the air suddenly grew damp, with a distinct taste of salt in it; the roar increased to a
deafening bellow, and with a fierce, yelling shriek the squall burst upon us, and the brigantine bowed beneath
the stroke until her lee rail was buried, and the water foamed in on deck from the cat-head to the main-rigging.
I thought for a moment that she, too, was going to turn turtle with us, and I believe she would, had the staysail
stood; but luckily at the very moment when it seemed all up with us, the sheet parted with a report that
sounded even above the yell of the gale; there was a concussion as though the ship had struck something solid,
and with a single flap the sail split in ribbons and blew clean out of the bolt-ropes. Meanwhile Mendouca had
sprung to the wheel and lent his strength to the efforts of the helmsman to put it hard up, and, after hanging
irresolute for a moment, as though undecided whether to capsize or not, the Francesca gathered way, and in
obedience to the helm gradually paid off until she was dead before it, when she suddenly righted and began to
scud like a terrified thing. The boats were of course left far behind; and I made up my mind that we should
never see them again.
The squall was as sharp a thing of its kind as I had ever beheld, and it was fully three-quarters of an hour
before it became possible to bring the ship to the wind again, which Mendouca did the moment that he could
with safety. The wind continued quite fresh for another half-hour after the squall had blown itself out, and
then it dwindled away to a very paltry breeze again, the clouds cleared away, the sun re-appeared and shone
with a heat that was almost overpowering, and the weather became brilliantly fine again; much too fine,
indeed, for Mendouca's purpose, he being anxious to get back again as quickly as possible to the spot where
he had been obliged to abandon his boats, a lingering hope possessing him that perchance they might have
outlived the squall, and that he might recover his men. I may perhaps be doing the man an injustice in saying
so much, but I firmly believe that this desire on his part was prompted, not by any feeling of humanity or
regard for the men, but simply because the loss of so many out of his ship's company would leave him very
short-handed, and seriously embarrass him until he could obtain others to fill their places; and I formed this
opinion from the fact that his many expressions of regret at being blown away from his boats were every one
of them coupled with a petulant repetition of the remark that his hands would be completely tied should he fail
to recover their crews. So persistently did he hang upon this phase of the mishap, that at length I ventured to
ask him whether there were none of them that he would be sorry to lose for their own sakes, apart from any
question of inconvenience; in reply to which he stated, with a brutal laugh, that they were, one and all, a lazy
set of worthless rascals, of whom he should have rid himself in any case on his arrival in Havana.
However, be his motive what it might, he cracked, on every stitch of canvas that the brigantine would bear, as
soon as the strength of the squall had sufficiently abated to permit of his bringing her to the wind, making sail
from time to time as the wind further dwindled, until he had her under everything that would draw, from the
trucks down. To add to his anxiety, it was about two bells in the first dog-watch before he could bring the ship
to the wind, and he feared, not without reason, that it would be dark before he could work back near enough to
the spot at which we had left the boats, to see them again--always supposing, of course, that they still floated.
However, he did everything that a seaman could do, sending a hand aloft to the royal-yard to keep a look-out
as soon as the ship had been got upon a wind, and making short boards to windward--the first one of a quarter
of an hour's duration, and the others of half-an-hour each, so as to thoroughly cover the ground previously
passed over--as long as the daylight lasted. But when, all too soon, the sun went down in a blaze of golden and
crimson and purple splendour, no sign of the boats had been seen; Mendouca, therefore, worked out a
calculation of the distance run by the brigantine from the spot where the squall first struck her, subtracted
CHAPTER TWELVE. 78
from it the distance that the boats would probably traverse in the same time, and having worked up to this spot
as nearly as he could calculate, he hove-to for the night, with a bright lantern at his main-truck, firing signal
rockets at intervals of a quarter of an hour, and wearing the ship round on the other tack every two hours. The
night was brilliantly star-lit, but without a moon, still there was light enough upon the water to have revealed
the boats at a distance of half-a-mile, while the weather was so fine that a shout raised at twice that distance to
windward of the ship might have been heard on board her above the soft sigh of the night wind, and the gentle
lap of the water along the bends; moreover, apart from the rockets fired, she might have been plainly seen
against the sky at a distance of fully three miles from the boats, while her progress through the water was so
slow that they could have pulled alongside her without difficulty; when, therefore, midnight arrived without
any news of them, I gave them up for lost, and turned in. Not so Mendouca, he would not give them up;
moreover, he refused to leave the deck--declaring that now he had lost his two mates he had nobody on board
that he could trust in charge--preferring to have a mattress laid for him upon the skylight bench, where he
snatched catnaps between the intervals of wearing the ship round.
However, the matter was cleared up shortly after sunrise next morning, when Mendouca again sent a hand
aloft to look round, for the fellow had only got as far as the foretop when he reported two objects that looked
like the boats, about five miles to leeward; adding, that if they were the boats, they were capsized. The topsail
was accordingly filled, and the ship kept away, when, after about an hour's run, first one boat and then the
other was found, the first being capsized, while the second was full of water and floating with the gunwale
awash. One drowned seaman was found under the capsized boat, but the rest were nowhere to be seen. Both
boats were easily secured, and found to be undamaged; and several of the oars and loose bottom-boards were
also recovered, being found floating at no great distance from the boats. The drowned seaman, I may as well
mention, was not brought on board, but instead of this a boat was sent away with a canvas bag containing
three nine-pound shot, which they secured to the poor wretch's ankles, and so sunk him.
Mendouca now, in no very amiable mood, resumed his course toward the coast; and that same
afternoon--having meanwhile been engaged apparently in a tolerably successful effort to recover his
temper--approached me with a proposal that he should tell me the story of his life, to which I of course
cheerfully assented.
I will not inflict upon the reader the tale that he told me, because it has no direct bearing upon this present
history; suffice it to say, that I now learned with some astonishment that he was a born Englishman, and that,
moreover, he had begun his career in the British navy, from which--if his story were strictly true, as I
afterwards had the opportunity of learning was the case--he had been ousted by a quite unusual piece of
tyranny, and a most singular and deplorable miscarriage of justice. It was the latter, I gathered, even more than
the former, that had soured him, and warped everything that was good out of his character; for it appeared that
he had a keen sense of justice, and a very exalted idea of it; he had undoubtedly been most cruelly ill-used--
he had in fact been adjudged guilty of a crime that he had never committed--and this appeared to have utterly
ruined the character of a man who might otherwise have been an ornament to the service, distorted all his
views of right and wrong, and filled him to the brim with a wild, unreasoning, insatiable desire for vengeance.
This much for the man's story, which, however, I soon found had been told me with a purpose; that purpose
being nothing less than the inducing of me to join him and take the place of his lost chief mate,
whereby--according to his showing--I might speedily become a rich man. Had the proposal come before I had
heard his story I should have resented it as an insult, but the recital to which he had treated me, and the
sentiments expressed during its narration, convinced me that his sense of honour had been so completely
warped that he could see no disgrace in the abandonment of a service and a country capable of treating any
other man--myself, for instance, as he carefully pointed out--as he had been treated; I therefore contented
myself with a simple refusal, coupled with an assurance that such a step would be wholly discordant with my
sense of right and wrong, utterly irreconcilable, to my conscience, and not at all in accord with my views. I
had expected him to be furiously angry at my refusal, but to my great surprise he was not; on the contrary, he
frankly admitted that he had been fully prepared for a refusal--at first--but that he still believed my views
CHAPTER TWELVE. 79
might alter upon more mature reflection.
"Meanwhile," said he, "you see how I am situated; I have lost both my officers, and have no one on board but
yourself in the least capable of taking their places. I saved your life--or spared it, which comes to the same
thing--and I now ask you to make me the only return in your power by assisting me in my difficulty."
"Before I give you any answer to that," said I, "I must ask you to explicitly define and accurately set forth the
nature of the assistance that you desire me to render."
"Certainly," said Mendouca. "All that I ask of you at present is to relieve me by taking charge of a watch, and
assisting me to navigate the ship. With regard to the latter, I consider myself capable of taking the ship
anywhere, and have as much confidence in myself as a man ought to have; but `to err is human,' and it
increases one's confidence, and confers a feeling of security, to have some one to check one's calculations.
And as to the watch, unless you will consent to keep one for me, I shall be compelled to keep the deck night
and day. Now, it is no great thing that I am asking of you in return for your life; will you do it?"
"Give me half-an-hour to consider the matter, and you shall then have my reply," said I.
"So be it," he answered. And then the matter ended, for the moment.
It was a question that I found it by no means easy to decide. Here was I, an officer in the service of a country
pledged to do its utmost to suppress the abominable slave-traffic, actually invited to assist in the navigation of
a ship avowedly engaged not only in that traffic but-- according to the acknowledgment of her captain--also
in, at least, occasional acts of piracy! What was I to do? On the one hand, I was fully determined to do nothing
that could be construed into even the semblance of tacit acquiescence in Mendouca's lawless vocation; while,
on the other, I undoubtedly owed my life to the man, and therefore shrank from the idea of behaving in a
manner that might appear churlish. Moreover, it appeared to me that by rendering the trifling service
demanded of me, I should find myself in a position to very greatly ameliorate in many ways the condition of
the unhappy blacks down in the dark, noisome hold. The end of it all was, therefore, that at the expiration of
the half-hour I had determined--perhaps weakly and foolishly--to accede to Mendouca's request. I accordingly
went to him and said--
"Senor Mendouca, I have considered your request, and have decided to accede to it upon certain conditions."
"Name them," answered Mendouca.
"They are these," said I. "First, that my services shall be strictly confined to the keeping of a watch and the
checking of your astronomical observations. Secondly, that you undertake to perpetrate no act of piracy while
I am on board. And, thirdly, that you will allow me to leave your ship upon the first occasion that we happen
to encounter a sail of a nationality friendly to Great Britain."
"Is that all?" demanded Mendouca. "By my faith, but you appear to attach a somewhat high value to your
services, senor midshipman! I spared your life; yet that does not appear to be a sufficient reason why you
should afford me the small amount of help I require without hedging your consent about with ridiculous and
impossible restrictions! I am surprised that, while you were about it, you did not also stipulate that I should
abandon the slave-trade while the ship is honoured by your presence! I am obliged to you, Senor Dugdale, for
your condescension in giving your distinguished consideration at all to my request, but your terms are too
high; I can do better without your help than with it, if it is to be bought at the price of such restraint as you
demand."
And he turned his back upon me and walked over to the other side of the deck.
CHAPTER TWELVE. 80
Presently he turned and re-crossed the deck to my side, and remarked, in English--
"Look here, Dugdale, don't be a fool! In coupling your consent to help me with those restrictions, you
doubtless suspected me of an intention to involve you in some of those acts that you deem unlawful, and then
to renew my proposal that you should join me. Well, if you did you were not so very far from the truth; I
confess that I do wish you to join me. I have somehow taken a fancy to you, despite those old-fashioned and
absurd notions of yours about conscience, and duty, and the like. Why, if you would only put them away from
you it would be the making of you, and you would be just the sort of fellow that I want; you are pluck all
through, and, once free from the trammels of the thing that you call conscience, you would stick at nothing,
and with you as my right hand I should feel myself free to undertake deeds that I have only dared to dream of
thus far, while, with our views brought into accord, we should be as brothers to each other. I am ambitious,
Dugdale, and I tell you that if you will join me we can and will revive the glories of the old buccaneering days
and make ourselves feared and reverenced all over the globe; we will be sea-kings, you and I. What need is
there for hesitation in the matter? Nay"--and he held up his hand as he saw that I was about to speak--"do not
inflict upon me those musty platitudes about conscience and duty that I have heard so often in the old days,
and that have been made the excuse for so many acts of gross tyranny and injustice that my gorge rises in
loathing whenever I hear them mentioned. What is conscience? The inward monitor that points out your duty
to God and restrains--or tries to restrain--you from doing wrong, you will perhaps say. Well, let us accept that
as an answer. I will then ask you another question. Do you really believe in the existence of the Being you call
God? No, I am sure you do not; you cannot, my dear fellow, and remain consistent. For what is our
conception of God? or, rather, what is the picture of Him that our ghostly advisers and teachers have drawn of
Him? Are we not assured that He is the personification and quintessence of Justice, and Love, and Mercy?
Very well. Then, if such a Being really exists, would the tyranny, the injustice, the cruelty, and the suffering
that have afflicted poor humanity, from Adam down to ourselves, have been permitted? Certainly not!
Therefore I unhesitatingly say that He cannot exist, and that the belief in Him is a mere idle, foolish
superstition, unworthy of entertainment by intelligent, reasonable, and reasoning beings. And if there is no
God, whence do we derive our conception of duty? I tell you, Dugdale, there is no such thing as duty save to
one's self; the duty of protecting, and providing for, and avenging one's self, as I am doing, and as you may do
if you choose to join me."
"Have you finished?" I asked, as he paused and looked eagerly into my face. "Very well, then; I will answer in
a few words, if facts were as you so confidently state them to be, I might possibly be induced to cast in my lot
with yours; but, fortunately for humanity, they are not so, and I must therefore most emphatically decline."
"Then I presume," said he, with a sneer, "you still believe in the existence of God, and His power to work His
will here on earth?"
"Certainly," I answered, without hesitation.
"Do you believe that He is more potent than I am!"
"I really must decline to answer so absurd a question," said I, and turned away to leave him.
"Stop!" he thundered, his eyes suddenly blazing with demoniac fury. "Answer me, yes or no, if you are not
afraid! If your faith in Him is as perfect as you would have me believe, answer me!"
I hesitated for a moment--I confess it with shame--for I felt convinced that in the man's present mood a reply
in the affirmative would assuredly provoke him to some dreadful act in proof of the contrary; the hesitation
was but momentary, however, and, that moment past, I replied--
"Yes; I believe Him to be omnipotent, both on earth and in heaven."
CHAPTER TWELVE. 81
It was as I had expected--my reply had provoked him to murder; for as the words left my lips he, for the
second time, drew his pistol from his belt, cocked it, and deliberately pressed the muzzle of the barrel to my
temple, exclaiming, as he did so--
"Very well. Then let us see whether He has the power to save you from my bullet!"
And, glaring like a madman straight into my eyes, he held it there while one might perhaps have slowly
counted ten, and then pulled the trigger. There was a sharp click and a little shower of sparks as the flint-lock
fell, and--that was all.
"Missed fire, by all the furies!" he exclaimed, dashing the weapon violently to the deck, where it instantly
exploded. "Well, you have proved your faith, at all events, and have escaped with your life by the mere
accident of my pistol having missed fire, and there is an end of it for the present. Here, take my hand; you are
a plucky young dog and no mistake, but you did wrong to provoke me; take my advice and don't do it again,
lest worse befall you."
"No," said I, "I will not take your hand. You saved--or rather, spared--my life once, it is true, but you have
threatened it twice, and it is no thanks to you that I am alive at this moment. We are now quits, for this last act
of yours has wiped out whatever obligation I may have owed you for your former clemency. I will not take
your hand; and I warn you that I will leave your ship on the first opportunity that presents itself."
And I turned away and left him.
Shortly afterwards Mendouca went below; and a few minutes after his disappearance the steward came up to
me and informed me that "supper"-- as the evening meal is called at sea--was ready.
"I shall not go below, steward," I said. "If Captain Mendouca will allow you to do so, I should like you to
bring me a cup of coffee and a biscuit up here."
"Very well, senor," the man answered. "I will bring them."
He disappeared, but returned, after an interval of a minute or two, and handed me a note scrawled on a small
slip of paper. It was written in English, and read as follows--
"You are the last fellow I should ever have suspected of so contemptible a weakness as sulking. Come below,
like a sensible lad; I have that to say to you which I do not choose to say on deck in the presence of the men.
"Mendouca."
"Oh!" thought I, "so he has returned to his right mind, has he? Very well, I will go below and hear what he has
to say; for it would certainly be unpleasant to be in a ship for any length of time with the captain of which one
is not on speaking terms."
Accordingly I descended the companion, and as I entered the cabin Mendouca rose from a sofa-locker upon
which he had flung himself, and again stretched forth his hand.
"I want you to forgive me, Dugdale," said he, with great earnestness. "Nay, but you must; I will take no
denial. I am not prone to feel ashamed of anything that I do, but I frankly confess that I am ashamed of my
behaviour to you this afternoon, and I ask your pardon for it. To tell you the whole truth, I believe that there is
a taint of madness in my blood, for there have been occasions when I have felt myself irresistibly impelled to
actions for which I have afterwards been sorry, and that of this afternoon was one of them."
CHAPTER TWELVE. 82
I believed him; I really believed that, as he had said, there was a touch of madness in his composition, and that
he was not always fully accountable for his actions. I therefore somewhat reluctantly accepted his proffered
hand and the reconciliation that went with it, and with a suggestion that perhaps it would be as well henceforth
to avoid theological arguments, took my accustomed seat at the cabin table.
Later in the evening, while Mendouca was reading in his cabin, my friend Pedro joined me on deck, and, with
many expressions of poignant distress at his father's behaviour to me, endeavoured to excuse it upon the plea
of irresponsibility already urged by Mendouca himself; the poor lad assuring me that even he was not always
safe from the consequences of his father's violence. And during the half-hour's chat that ensued I learnt
enough to convince me that Mendouca was in very truth afflicted with paroxysmal attacks of genuine,
undoubted madness; and that, in my future dealings with him, I should have to bear that exceedingly alarming
and disconcerting fact in mind.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN. 83
CHAPTER THIRTEEN.
HOW MENDOUCA REPLENISHED HIS "CARGO."
I could see that Mendouca was pretty thoroughly ashamed of himself, for despite his utmost efforts, there was
a perceptible shrinking and embarrassment of manner apparent in him during the progress of the meal.
Nevertheless, he exerted himself manfully to obliterate the exceedingly disagreeable impression that he knew
had been made upon me by his late conduct; and it was evident that he was sincerely desirous of
re-establishing friendly relations between us, whether from any selfish motive or not I cannot of course say,
but I think not--I believe his pride was hurt at his late lamentable exhibition of weakness, and he was chiefly
anxious to recover his own self-respect. Whatever his motive may have been, his demeanour was a perfect
blending of politeness and cordiality that won upon me in spite of myself; and before the meal was over I had
determined to render him the small amount of assistance that he had asked of me, reserving to myself the right
to withdraw it at any moment that I might deem fit. He seemed sincerely grateful for my offer, and accepted it
frankly and cordially with the reservation that I had attached to it; and having accompanied me on deck and
turned the hands up, he informed them that I had offered to temporarily perform the duties of chief mate, and
that they were to obey my orders as implicitly as they would those from his own lips; after which, as I had
offered to take charge until midnight, he said that he was tired and would try to get a little sleep, and so retired
below to his own cabin.
The breeze continued easterly, and very moderate, frequently dropping almost calm, on which occasion we
were almost invariably treated to deluges of rain, with occasional thunder and lightning. Our progress to the
eastward was therefore slow, and for three whole days and nights nothing occurred to break the monotony of
the voyage. On the morning of the fourth day, however, when I went on deck just before eight bells--it having
been my eight hours in, that night--I found the brigantine once more before the wind, with a slashing breeze
blowing after her, and she with every rag of canvas packed upon her that could be induced to draw. But, to my
exceeding surprise, we were heading to the westward, and, hull-down about ten miles distant, was another
craft dead ahead of us, also carrying a press of canvas.
I turned to Mendouca for an explanation; and in answer to my look of inquiry he said--
"Yes, I want to overtake that brig, if I can. I am ashamed to say that among us we let her slip past in the
darkness of the early part of the last watch, and so I missed the opportunity of speaking her. But I believe I
know her; and if my surmise as to her identity proves correct, I think I shall have no difficulty in persuading
her skipper to transfer his cargo to me, and so save me the trouble and risk of returning to the coast for one--a
risk which was every day growing greater as we drew nearer to the ground haunted by your lynx-eyed
cruisers, to fall in with one of which just now, with those niggers down in the hold, would mean our inevitable
condemnation, as I need scarcely tell you."
"Quite so," I assented. "But should you fail to overtake yonder craft, you will lose a good deal of ground, will
you not?"
"Oh, we shall overhaul her, if she be the brig I believe her to be, and I have very little doubt upon that point,"
answered Mendouca. "She is a smart craft, I admit, but the Francesca can beat her upon any point of sailing,
and in any breeze that blows; and, that being the case, the distance that we may have to run to leeward before
getting alongside her is a matter of indifference to me, since it will be so much of our voyage accomplished."
"Have you gained anything on her since you bore up in chase?" I asked.
"About a couple of miles, I should think. But then the wind has been light with us until within the last hour. If
this breeze holds I expect to be alongside her about four bells in the afternoon watch."
CHAPTER THIRTEEN. 84
"By which time we shall have run close upon seventy miles to leeward," I remarked.
"Nearer eighty," observed Mendouca. "We are going close upon thirteen now. But, as I said before, that does
not trouble me in the least, since we shall be that much nearer Cuba."
This was serious news to me, for Cuba was about the last place that I desired to visit, at least on board the
Francesca, for I foresaw that if once we got over there the difficulty of effecting my escape from the accursed
craft would be very greatly increased; indeed, I had quite reckoned upon her being fallen in with and captured
by one of our cruisers, either while standing in for a fresh cargo of slaves, or when coming out again with
them on board, to which chance alone could I look with any reason for the prospect of deliverance from my
present embarrassing and disagreeable situation. True, there was just a possibility of our being picked up by
one of the West Indian squadron; but I had not much hope of that, our vessels on that station being mostly
slow, deep-draught craft, altogether unsuited for the pursuit and capture of the swift, light-draught slavers,
who, unless caught at advantage in open water, could laugh us to scorn by the simple expedient of taking short
cuts across shoals, or seeking refuge among the shallow lagoons that abound among the islands, and are
especially plentiful and spacious along the northern coast of Cuba. However, there was no use in worrying
over a state of things that I had no power to mend; I therefore assumed charge of the deck, and allowed
matters to take their course-- since I needs must.
The breeze continued to freshen as the sun increased his distance above the horizon, and we went bowling
along at a most exhilarating pace, overhauling the brig ahead, slowly but surely; and when at one o'clock the
steward summoned me to the cabin to dinner, a space of barely two miles separated the two craft. She had just
hoisted Portuguese colours, of which, however, Mendouca took no notice, somewhat to my surprise, since he
reiterated the statement that she was the craft he had believed her to be, and that the captain of her and he
were old friends. It was my afternoon watch below; so when I rose from the dinner-table I said--
"Captain Mendouca, I have no wish to identify myself in any way with the transaction you are about to
negotiate; you must excuse me therefore if, it being my watch below, I retire to my cabin."
"Very well, Dugdale," he answered, quite good-humouredly, "I can manage the business perfectly well
without you; if therefore your conscience"--with just the faintest suggestion of a sneer--"will not permit you to
take an active part in it, you are quite welcome to stay below until the affair is at an end, when I will call you."
I even thought that he spoke with an air of relief, as though my withdrawal had smoothed away a difficulty.
About an hour later I was awakened from a nap by the sound of hailing in a language which I did not
understand, but which, from its decided resemblance to Spanish, I concluded to be Portuguese. I could not
hear what passed, nor did I attempt to do so, being of opinion that the less prominently I was mixed up with
the affair, and the less I knew about it, the better. The hailing soon ceased, and then the brigantine was
hove-to, as I could tell by the difference in her movements. I had the curiosity to rise from my bunk and take a
peep through the scuttle at the sea, but it was bare as far as my eye could reach; so, as my state-room was to
windward as the Francesca then lay, I came to the conclusion that the brig was hove-to to leeward of us. The
moment that our topsail was backed I heard the creaking of davit blocks, and the other sounds of a boat being
lowered; and a few minutes later I heard the roll of the oars in the rowlocks as she was pulled away from the
ship. Then the hatches were taken off fore and aft, and in about half-an-hour from the time of our having
hove-to I became aware that the first boat-load of slaves had arrived alongside and were being driven down
into the hold. The boats now began to arrive in rapid succession, and there was a good deal of bustle and
confusion on deck, which lasted until close upon sunset, and in the midst of it I laid down and went to sleep
again, for want of something better to do. When I awoke the dusk was thick upon the glass of my scuttle, the
steward was lighting the lamp in the main cabin, and I could feel that we were once more under way again;
concluding, therefore, that the exchange had been completed, I rolled out of my bunk and, slipping my feet
into my shoes, left my state-room and went on deck, where I found Mendouca in jubilant spirits, but rather
disconcerted, I thought, at my appearance.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN. 85
"Hillo!" he exclaimed in English, "where the deuce did you come from, and how long have you been on
deck?"
"I came from my state-room, and have but this moment emerged from the companion. Why do you ask?" said
I.
"Because," he answered, "to tell you the truth you startled me, making your appearance in that quiet manner. I
thought you were going to stay below until I called you?"
"It was you who said that, not I," answered I. "And, to tell you the truth, I felt tired of being below, and
so--finding that you were under way again--came on deck."
The brig was about five miles astern, and, as far as I could see in the fast-gathering darkness, still hove-to,
which struck me as being so peculiar that I made some remark to that effect.
"Oh no; nothing strange about it at all," answered Mendouca carelessly. "Her people are getting their supper,
probably, and are too lazy to start tack or sheet until they have finished their meal. Bless you, you have no
idea what lazy rascals the Portuguese are; their laziness is absolutely phenomenal; they are positively too lazy
to live long, and so most of them die early. More over, I expect her skipper is still below poring over his
charts and trying to make up what he is pleased to call his mind what spot to steer for in order to get another
cargo."
"Very possibly," I assented, with a laugh. "By the way, it is curious, but I could almost fancy her deeper in the
water than she was; does it not strike you so?"
"Deeper in the water?" he exclaimed sharply. "No, I cannot say that it does; and even were such a thing
possible, it would need an uncommonly sharp eye to discern it in such a light as this. She may be, however,
for that rascal Jose wrung enough good Spanish dollars out of me, for his rubbish, to sink her to her
waterways. But come, here is the steward, so I suppose supper is ready, and if so we may as well go below
and get it, for I must plead guilty to being most ravenously hungry."
Notwithstanding which statement I could not avoid noticing that he toyed a great deal with his food and ate
very little; which was not to be wondered at under the circumstances, for I afterwards learned that while I was
below in my berth, suspecting nothing worse than the purchase and transfer of a cargo of slaves from one ship
to another, a most atrocious and cold-blooded act of piracy had been committed, and that, too, under the
shadow and disguise of the British flag; Mendouca having coolly hoisted British colours the moment that I
left the deck, and, in the guise of a British cruiser, compelled the Portuguese brig to heave-to and disgorge her
cargo; after which he had confined the crew below, bound hand and foot, and had scuttled their ship, leaving
them to perish in her when she went down! But of this I had not the faintest suspicion until the tale was told
me some time afterwards by one of the Francesca's own crew.
With the setting of the sun the wind evinced a very decided tendency to drop, growing steadily lighter all
through the first watch, until when Mendouca relieved me at midnight the ship was moving at a rate of barely
five knots, although she was carrying studding-sails on both sides; and when I went on deck again at four
o'clock next morning it was a flat calm, and the ship was lying motionless upon the water, with her head
swung round to the south-east; the swell, too, had gone down, and there was every appearance of the calm
lasting for several hours at least. The appearance of the sun, as he rose, also confirmed this impression, the
sky being--for a wonder in that latitude--perfectly cloudless, and of a clear, pure, soft, crystalline blue, into
which the great luminary leapt in dazzling splendour, palpitating with breathless heat that promised to soon
become almost unendurable. It was my custom to indulge in a saltwater bath every morning in the ship's head,
one of the men playing the hose upon me for a quarter of an hour or so, and never did that bath seem a greater
luxury to me than on this particular morning, for the heat came with the sun, and I envied the fish their ability
CHAPTER THIRTEEN. 86
to escape it by sinking deep into the cool, blue, crystalline depths; indeed I should most probably have been
tempted to imitate them as far as possible by plunging overboard and swimming twice or thrice round the
ship, had I not happened to have noticed a large shark under her counter, when, to test the clearness of the
water, I happened to lean over the taffrail to look at the rudder and stern-post. Even the men dawdled over the
job of washing decks that morning, using a much greater quantity of water than usual, and placing themselves
where there was a chance to get the hose played upon their bare feet and legs. And if it was hot on deck, what
must it have been down in the crowded hold? It was Mendouca's habit to have the gratings put on the
hatchways and secured every night--when the weather would permit of the use of them instead of the solid
hatches--in order to prevent anything in the shape of a rising on the part of the negroes; and all night long a
thin, pungent vapour had been rising through them, telling an eloquent tale of the frightful closeness and heat
of the atmosphere down there, while at frequent intervals could be heard the sound of a restless stirring on the
part of the living cargo, accompanied by a long-drawn, gasping sigh, as if for breath. There was usually a
good deal of carelessness and remissness manifested by the men in the removal of the gratings in the morning.
I have frequently gone on deck at seven bells--when it was my eight hours in--and found them still on,
although it was well understood that they were to be taken off at four bells. I was always very particular, when
it was my morning watch on deck, to have the gratings removed prompt to time; on this particular morning,
however, I did not wait until four bells, but took it upon myself to have the hatches thrown open as soon as
there was daylight enough to enable us to see, clearly, and I am sure that the poor wretches below were
grateful for even so small a measure of relief.
As the day advanced the heat grew intolerable, and the consequent suffering of the blacks more intense. It is
the custom on board slavers, I believe--at least it was so on board the Francesca--to feed the slaves twice a
day, the food consisting of a fairly liberal quantity of boiled rice, farina, or calavance beans--these latter being
used on account of their great fattening powers, whereby the slaves are maintained in a tolerably good
condition of body--with a pint of water at each meal. Mendouca made it a rule to vary the diet of the slaves as
much as possible on these three articles, one or the other of which was given every third day, he having found
that the poor wretches thus thrived better, and took their food with more enjoyment than when fed during the
entire voyage upon one kind of food only; and whenever the weather was sufficiently moderate to permit of it,
he always had one-half of the slaves on deck for an airing during the time that the other half were being fed
below, thus allowing room for the men who dispensed the food and water to move about, and also for the
slaves to use their hands in the process of feeding; and on the particular morning of which I am now writing it
was unspeakably moving and pathetic to note, as I did, the feverish eagerness and longing with which the
unhappy creatures waited and watched for the arrival of the moment when they might come on deck and
breathe for a few brief minutes the pure and--to them--cool and refreshing outer atmosphere. My heart ached
with pity for them, and I determined that I would utilise my presence on board this accursed ship by doing
everything in my power to ameliorate as far as possible the condition of the unfortunates that were imprisoned
within her. And I made up my mind to begin on that very morning, if, when Mendouca made his appearance,
he seemed to be in a temper amenable to persuasion.
When he came on deck, however, the conditions appeared anything but promising, for he was in a frightfully
bad humour at the calm, cursing the weather, his own ill-luck, and everything else that he could think of to
execrate. I allowed him to give unrestrained vent to his ill-humour for some minutes, and when at length he
had calmed down somewhat I said--
"And yet it appears to me that this calm, about which you are complaining so bitterly, may be made excellent
use of, if you will, to benefit and increase the value of your property."
"Indeed? in what way, pray?" he demanded.
"Well," said I, "there is no sail trimming to be done in this weather, and it would be downright cruelty to send
the men aloft to work about the rigging in this blazing heat; why not therefore spread an awning aft, here, and
set the entire watch to work, beneath its shade, to patch up such of your canvas as needs repairing? And while
CHAPTER THIRTEEN. 87
they are engaged upon that job I will see--if you approve of the plan--whether I cannot get the negroes to take
a bath in batches in a studding-sail rigged on the fore-deck, and thus rid themselves of some of the filth that is
fast accumulating on their bodies; it will do them more good and tend more to keep them in health than a
double allowance of food for the remainder of the voyage. And when they have done that they can be divided
into two gangs, one on deck to draw and pass water, and the other below, with all the scrubbing-brushes and
swabs that can be mustered, to give the slave-deck a thorough cleansing. That is what I should do, were they
my property."
"Well," he said musingly, "I dare say it would do the rascals a lot of good, and would certainly make the ship
sweeter--I'll be bound that she could be scented a mile away in her present condition. But who is to undertake
the supervision of such work? Not I, I tell you, frankly; and I believe the hands would refuse, to a man, were I
to attempt to set them to such work."
"If they will rig me a studding-sail, or an old fore-course for'ard, I will do the rest--or try to do it," said I.
"Will you?" exclaimed Mendouca, in surprise. "Then I am sure you may, and I heartily wish you joy of the
job."
"Very well, then, I will set about it the first thing after breakfast," said I.
And I did. I got the poor wretches forward in batches of thirty, induced them to stand in the basin-like hollow
of the sail, and then set half-a-dozen of their number pumping and drawing water, and playing upon their
fellows with the hose, or sluicing buckets of water over them, and the exquisite enjoyment, the unspeakable
luxury of that bath, as the cool, sparkling liquid dashed upon the filth and sweat-begrimed bodies, was a sight
to see! Enjoyed it? Why they revelled in it, so that it was with difficulty that I could get them out; the stony
look of hopeless, utter despair faded temporarily out of their eyes, and some of them actually laughed! It was
by no means a pleasant or a savoury job that I had undertaken, but witnessing the keen enjoyment that I had
thus bestowed made it the most delightful that I had ever been engaged in. It occupied me the whole morning
to pass the entire cargo through the bath and secure the thorough cleansing of their persons, and the whole of
the afternoon to get the slave-deck properly cleansed and purified; but when the sun set that evening the ship
was once more sweet and wholesome, while the slaves had--taking one with another--been on deck and
actively exercised for about half a day instead of about twenty minutes morning and evening. As I had said, it
did them more good than double rations for the entire voyage. Even Mendouca was fain to acknowledge that
the day, instead of being wasted, had been well spent.
We had been hoping all day that with sunset a breeze would spring up from somewhere--I think nobody was
very particular as to the quarter from which it should come, so long as it came at all--but our hopes were
doomed to disappointment; the sun went down in a perfectly clear sky, and there was no sign whatever of
wind from any quarter. The same weather conditions prevailed all through the night; and when the sun rose
next morning there was still not the slightest sign of wind, while the glass exhibited a slight tendency to rise.
Under these circumstances I thought I would endeavour to secure a repetition of the proceedings of the
previous day, and so well pleased was Mendouca with the improved appearance of the blacks when, as usual,
half of them came on deck at breakfast-time, that he readily gave his consent; and accordingly the poor
creatures were again treated to the luxury of the bath, while the slave-deck received another thorough
scrubbing to cleanse it from the filth accumulated during the night. And thus the negroes were enabled to pass
a second day in pure air, to the great improvement of their health and spirits; indeed, the ecstatic delight with
which they lingered over their bath, and the cheerfulness with which they afterwards worked at their task of
drawing water and scrubbing, chattering almost gaily together all the time, were, to me, most eloquent
testimony as to the miseries that they had previously endured, cooped up, tightly wedged together, day and
night, in the close and noisome hold.
I must not omit to mention a very curious phenomenon of which I had often heard, but had never before
CHAPTER THIRTEEN. 88
beheld until this day. It is known among sailors as the phenomenon of "the ripples." I was on the forecastle
superintending the bathing operations when it first made its appearance, the sky being at the time clear and
cloudless, with the sun blazing in its midst like a huge ball of living flame, while the water was so oil-smooth
and glassy that it was quite impossible to distinguish the horizon, or to determine where the sea ended and the
sky began. It was hotter than I had ever felt it before; dressed only in a thin shirt and the thinnest of white
trousers, the perspiration was gushing so freely from every pore of my body that my light and airy garments
were saturated with it, while the atmosphere was so stagnant that it seemed impossible to inhale a sufficiency
of air for breathing purposes. Under these trying conditions we were, of course, all anxiously watching for a
breeze; and it was with a feeling of exquisite delight that, happening to look abroad toward the north, I saw
the horizon strongly marked with a line of delicate blue, indicating, as I believed, the approach of a
thrice-welcome breeze. In the exuberance of my delight I shouted to Mendouca, who was reclining in a
hammock aft slung from the main-boom, and, of course, under the shelter of the awning--
"Hurrah! here comes a breeze at last, although I do not know where it has sprung from, for there is not a cloud
to be seen."
Mendouca sprang up in his hammock at this news, and looked in the direction to which I was pointing; then
sank back again, disgustedly.
"Pshaw, that is no breeze--worse luck!" he cried. "That is only `the ripples.'"
"The ripples?" I ejaculated. "Surely not. It has every appearance of a genuine breeze!"
Mendouca, however, was too intensely disgusted to reply. Meanwhile, the streak of blue, stretching right
athwart the horizon, was advancing rapidly, bearing straight down upon the brigantine, and soon it became
possible to see the tiny wavelets sparkling in the dazzling sunlight, and to detect a soft, musical,
liquid-tinkling sound, such as one may hear when the tide is rising on a flat, sandy beach on a calm summer's
day. But by this time I had made the disappointing discovery that the blue line was merely a belt of rippling
water about a quarter of a mile wide, with a perfectly calm, glassy surface beyond it, and, as there was no
advance-guard of cat's-paws, such as may usually be seen playing on the surface of the water as forerunners of
an approaching breeze, I was reluctantly compelled to acknowledge to myself that Mendouca was right. And
so it proved; for although the line--or rather belt--of rippling water not only advanced right up to the ship,
giving forth a most pleasant and refreshing liquid sound as it came, and lapping musically against the
brigantine's sides for a few minutes when it reached her, but also passed on and traversed the entire visible
surface of the ocean, finally disappearing beyond the southern horizon, the whole phenomenon was absolutely
unaccompanied by the slightest perceptible movement of the air. This curious disturbance of the ocean's
surface was twice repeated on that same day.
The long, hot, breathless, and wearisome day at length drew to an end, and still there was no sign of wind; the
night passed; another day dawned; and still we lay, like the craft in Coleridge's Ancient Mariner, "as idle as a
painted ship upon a painted ocean." That day too waxed and waned without the sign of so much as a cat's-paw
to revive our drooping hopes; and although during the succeeding night we were visited by a terrific
thunderstorm, accompanied by a perfect deluge of rain, during which a few evanescent puffs intermittently
filled our sails, and moved us perhaps a mile nearer Cuba, when day again dawned there was a further
recurrence of the same staring, cloudless sky of dazzling blue, the same blazing sun, the same breathless
atmosphere, and the same oil-smooth sea. And as these days of calm and stagnation succeeded each other with
relentless persistency, I kept up the custom of bathing the negroes and thoroughly cleansing the slave-deck,
until at length the poor creatures actually grew fat and merry, so that Mendouca, despite his fast-growing
impatience and irritability at the continued calm, was obliged to admit that he had never seen a cargo of
"black ivory" in such promising condition before. This, however, was not all; for while superintending these
bathing and scrubbing operations I talked cheerfully and pleasantly to the fellows, giving them such names as
Tom, Bob, Joe, Snowball, and so on, to which they readily answered, instead of abusing them and ordering
CHAPTER THIRTEEN. 89
them about with brutal oaths and obscenity, as was the habit of the crew; and although the poor wretches
understood not a word of what was spoken to them either by the crew or by myself, yet they readily enough
distinguished the difference of manner, and not only so, but they seemed to possess the faculty of interpreting
one's meaning from the tones of one's voice, so that they quickly grew to understand what I wanted them to
do, and did it cheerfully and with alacrity. In this manner, with persistent calm recurring day after day, we
passed no less than the almost incredible time of over three weeks without moving as many miles from the
spot where the wind had deserted us, Mendouca's temper growing steadily worse every day, until at length he
became absolutely unbearable, and I spoke to him as little as possible. And the climax was reached when one
day the steward, who had been sent down into the hold to overhaul the stores, came on deck with a face as
long as the main-bowline, and reported that there was only food and water enough in the ship to last ten days
longer.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN. 90
CHAPTER FOURTEEN.
MENDOUCA BECOMES COMMUNICATIVE.
"Only ten days longer?" roared Mendouca, his face livid with fury and consternation. "Nonsense, Juan! you
must have made some stupid mistake; there surely is--there must be--more than that!"
"I have not made any mistake at all, senor," answered the man sulkily; "it is just as I have said; there are only
provisions and water enough to last us, on a full allowance, ten days longer."
"Then, if that is the case, all hands must be put on short allowance-- half rations--at once!" exclaimed
Mendouca, with an oath. "But, stop a little; there must be some mistake. Light your lantern again, and I will
go down below with you, and satisfy myself on the point."
Accordingly Mendouca and the steward went down into the hold together, and gave the stores an exhaustive
overhaul, with the result that the original report of the latter was fully confirmed!
Mendouca came up from the hold, raging like a maniac, cursing the weather, the provisions, and everything
else that he could think of, including myself, whom he denounced as a Jonah, his ill-luck having commenced,
according to his assertion, with the sparing of my life and my reception on board the Francesca. As for the
calm, he declared that it should detain him no longer; and, having searched the sky and examined the
barometer in vain for any signs of a change, he gave orders for all canvas to be furled, and for the negroes to
be set to work forthwith upon the sweeps, his intention being, as he stated, to keep them at it in relays or
gangs until the region of apparently eternal calm had been left, and a breeze of some sort found. There were
ten of these sweeps, or long, heavy oars, working through the ports, in beckets firmly lashed to ringbolts in the
stanchions, that were evidently placed there expressly for that particular purpose. The loom of the sweep was
long enough to admit of four men working at it, and accordingly the boatswain, having received his orders
from Mendouca, selected forty of the strongest-looking of the negroes, and set them to this exhausting labour,
the rest of the unfortunate creatures being driven below out of the way. The vessel, lying there inert as a log
on the water, proved very heavy to start, especially as the blacks knew not how to handle the sweeps, having
evidently never touched one before; but, once fairly started, the craft was kept moving with comparative ease
at a speed of about three and a half knots per hour. But it was cruel work for the unhappy blacks, who, naked
as when they were born, were remorselessly kept at it by the boatswain and his mate, both of whom paced the
deck, fore and aft, armed with a heavy "colt," which they plied unmercifully upon the shoulders of any man
whom they chose to believe was not fully exerting himself, although the perspiration poured from the dark
naked hides like rain. "Short spells and hard work" was, however, the order of the day, and after half-an-hour
of almost superhuman exertion a relief was called, a fresh gang was set to work, and the exhausted toilers
were hustled below to rest and recover themselves as best they could. I remonstrated hotly with Mendouca
upon the needless cruelty practised by the boatswain and his mate, but I was roughly told that I did not know
what I was talking about; that negroes would never work unless kept continually in wholesome dread of the
lash; and that it was absolutely necessary to get every ounce of work out of them if we were not one and all to
perish miserably of hunger and thirst. So, as I could do no better, I got a piece of the oldest and softest canvas
I could find, and a bucket of water, with which I descended to the slave-deck and carefully bathed the poor
lacerated shoulders of those unfortunates who had suffered most severely at the hands of the boatswain and
his mate, a little piece of attention that I saw was most gratefully received.
We made fully twenty miles of westing that day, from the time when the negroes were first set to work up to
sunset, to Mendouca's great gratification. Indeed, so delighted was he with his own brilliant idea, that he did
that night what I had never known him to do before, he indulged rather too freely in the contents of the
rum-bottle. And, as a consequence, he grew garrulous and good-humouredly sarcastic over the efforts made
for the suppression of the slave-trade, which he emphatically asserted would never be put down.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN. 91
"One very serious disadvantage which you labour under," he remarked, referring particularly to the operations
of the British slave-squadron, "is that you are altogether too confiding and credulous; you accept every man as
honest and straightforward until you have learned, to your cost, that he is the reverse. Take the case, for
example, of your attack upon Chango Creek. You were led to undertake it upon the representations made and
the information given by Lobo, the Portuguese trader of Banana Point, weren't you? Oh, I know all about it, I
have heard the whole story," he interrupted himself to say, in reply to my ejaculation of surprise. "You were
all very much obliged to Lobo, of course; and your captain paid him handsomely for his information and
assistance. I suppose there was not one of you, from the captain downward, who ever had the ghost of a
suspicion that the fellow was playing you false, and that the affair was a bold yet carefully arranged plot to
exterminate the whole of you, and destroy your ship, eh? No; of course you hadn't; yet I give you my word
that it was. Ay; and the only wonder to me was that it did not succeed. I suppose it was that you had a good
deal more fight in you than any of them gave you credit for; and that is where so many excellently arranged
traps have failed; the plotters have never made sufficient allowance for the fighting powers of the British, as I
have told them over and over again. It was just that important oversight that caused what ought to have been a
splendid success to result in a serious disaster; the intention was good, but, as is much too often the case, they
had reckoned without their host."
"But I do not understand," I cut in, as Mendouca paused. "What was the plot? and how was Lobo concerned in
it? It appears to me that the man acted in perfect good faith; he gave us certain information which proved to be
substantially correct--except that he was mistaken as to the force that we should have to encounter--and he
safely piloted us to the spot from which our boat attack was to be made; I can see nothing like a plot or
treachery in that."
"No; of course you cannot, you sweet innocent," retorted Mendouca, with fine sarcasm, "for the simple
reason, as I say, that the British are altogether too trustful and confiding to see treachery or double-dealing
until it is thrust openly in their faces. You are altogether too simple and unsuspicious, you navy men, to deal
with the tricks and ruses of the slave-dealing fraternity; and before your eyes are opened you either die of
fever, or are killed in some brush with us, or are invalided home."
"It may be so," I agreed; "but so general a statement as that does not in the least help me to see what was the
character of Lobo's plot, or even that there was a plot at all."
"Well, I will tell you," said Mendouca thickly, helping himself to another caulker of rum--he had already
swallowed two tumblers of stiff grog since the subject had been broached, in addition to what he had
previously taken--"I will tell you, because, having made up my mind that you shall never rejoin your own
people, the information is not likely to do Lobo any harm. When you arrived at Banana Point on that
particular morning, your presence seriously threatened to entirely upset a very important transaction which
Senor Lobo had in hand, namely, the disposal and shipment of a prime lot of nearly a thousand able-bodied,
full-grown, male blacks that he had got snugly stowed away in two big barracoons a short distance up the
creek from his factory. Had your captain taken it into his head to land a party and make a search of the
peninsula, the barracoons would have been discovered, and friend Lobo would have been a ruined man. So, as
soon as your brig was identified as a man-o'-war--and that was as soon as she could be distinctly made
out--another mistake that you man-o'-war's men make, friend Dugdale; you can scarcely ever bring yourselves
to disguise your ships; they declare their character as far as it is possible to see them.--Let me see, what was I
saying? I have run clean off my course, and don't know where I am."
"You were going to tell me what happened when the Barracouta was identified from Banana Point as a
man-o'-war," said I.
"Ah, yes, exactly," answered Mendouca. "Well, as soon as it was discovered that your brig was a British
man-o'-war, every available hand was set to work to clear everything of an incriminating character out of the
two brigs that were going to ship the slaves; so that, should you overhaul them--as I was told you did--nothing
CHAPTER FOURTEEN. 92
might be found on board to justify their seizure. This job was successfully completed only a few minutes
before you entered the creek. But that would have availed Lobo nothing had your captain happened to have
thought of landing upon the peninsula; the next thing, therefore, was to furnish him with a totally different
subject to think about; and this Lobo found in the opportune presence of the four craft in Chango Creek. The
captains of three out of the four vessels happened to be down at Banana when you arrived; and Lobo--who is
gifted with quite an unusual measure of persuasiveness--had very little difficulty in convincing them that you
would be absolutely certain to discover their hiding-place sooner or later, and that consequently it would be a
good plan to inveigle you into making an immediate attack upon them; when, by concerting proper measures
of defence, they might succeed in practically annihilating you, and so sweeping a formidable enemy out of
their path. The three skippers fell in readily with his plan, when he had propounded it, and also undertook to
secure the cooperation of the fourth; and as the creek offered exceptional facilities for a successful defence, it
was accepted that you were all as good as done for, especially as Lobo had undertaken to cut the brig adrift at
the right moment, so that she might be driven ashore and rendered useless for the time being, if not altogether.
This matter arranged, the slave-captains left Banana forthwith to carry out their plans for the defence of the
creek, taking a short cut by way of the back of the creek, and taking with them also every available man that
Lobo could spare; the idea being to allow you to advance unmolested as far as the boom--which, they never
dreamed that you would succeed in forcing--and then destroy you by a musketry fire from the banks, when,
weakened by your unavailing attack upon the boom, you should at length be compelled to retire. Your
astounding pluck and perseverance in forcing the boom completely upset all their plans, and converted what
would have been for them an easy and bloodless victory into a disastrous defeat, while it saved the lives of the
survivors of the attacking party. But though it turned out disastrously for Aravares, of the Mercedes, and his
friends, the plot served Lobo's purpose perfectly; the shipping of the slaves on board the two brigs which were
waiting for them proceeding immediately that you were clear of the creek, and both vessels getting away to
sea that same night. So that, you see, it is by no means as difficult a matter to deceive and hoodwink you
man-o'-war people as you choose to suppose."
"No," answered I; "so it would seem. Yet, by your own showing, we were not the only deceived parties; and,
after all, the attack was successful, so far as we were concerned."
"That is very true, and only confirms what I have always insisted upon; namely, that, in making their plans,
foreigners do not allow sufficiently for British pluck and obstinacy. Now I do; I never leave anything to
chance, but always lay my plans so carefully that the destruction or capture of my enemies is an absolute
certainty. But for such careful forethought on my part, the Sapphire's two boats would never have fallen into
my power."
"The Sapphire's boats?" I exclaimed. "Surely you do not mean to tell me that you are responsible for the
massacre of those two boats' crews?"
"No, not the massacre of them, certainly, but their capture," answered Mendouca, with a smile of gratified
pride.
"And are the people still alive, then?" I asked.
"They were when I last heard of them," answered Mendouca. "But it is quite possible that by this time
they--or at least a part of them--have been tortured to death by Matadi--the chief to whom I sold them--as a
sacrifice to his fetish."
"Gracious powers, how horrible!" I exclaimed. "And to think that you, an Englishman, could consign your
fellow-countrymen to such a fate as that!"
"Why not?" demanded Mendouca fiercely; "why should I be more gentle to my countrymen than they have
been to me? Do you think that, because I carry my fate lightly and gaily, I do not feel keenly the depth to
CHAPTER FOURTEEN. 93
which I have fallen? I might have been a post-captain by this time, honoured and distinguished for great
services worthily rendered; but I am instead a slaver and a pirate masquerading under the disguise of a
Spanish name. Do you think I am insensible of the immeasurable gulf that separates me from what I might
have been? And it is my own countrymen who have opened that gulf--who have robbed me of the opportunity
of reaching that proud eminence that was at one time all but within my reach, and have hurled me into the
abyss of crime and infamy in which you find me. And you are surprised, forsooth, that I should avenge myself
whenever the opportunity comes!"
I knew now from experience that it was quite useless to argue with Mendouca when he got upon the subject of
his grievances; I therefore gave the conversation a turn by asking--
"Where, then, are these wretched people now, if indeed they are still alive?"
"I presume," answered he, "that, if still alive, as you say, they are where I last heard of them; namely, at
Matadi's village; a place on the south bank of the Congo, about one hundred miles, or rather more, from its
mouth. But why do you take such a profound interest in them?" he asked. "Possibly you are contemplating the
formation of an expedition for their rescue, as soon as you have effected your escape from me?" and he
laughed satirically.
My reply and his laugh were alike cut short by the sound of heavy footsteps on the companion-ladder outside
the cabin, and the next moment the boatswain made his appearance in the doorway with the intimation that a
craft of some sort had just been made out, at a distance of about three miles broad on the starboard bow; and
he wished to know whether the course of the brigantine was to be altered or not.
Mendouca sprang to his feet and hurried on deck, I following him.
On our first emergence from the brilliantly-lighted cabin the night appeared to be dark; but as our eyes
accommodated themselves to the change of conditions, it became apparent that the cloudless sky was thickly
gemmed and powdered with stars of all magnitudes, from those of the first order down to the star-dust
constituting the broad belt of the Milky Way, all gleaming with that soft, resplendent lustre that is only to be
witnessed within the zone of the tropics. Moreover, there was a young moon, a delicate, crescent-shaped
paring, about two days old, hanging low in the western sky, yet capable, in that pure, translucent atmosphere,
of yielding quite an appreciable amount of light. The water was still smooth as polished glass, even the swell
having gone down so completely that its undulations were not to be detected by even the delicate test of
watching the star reflections in the polished depths, while the brigantine was as steady as though still on the
stocks where she took form and substance. The negroes were still toiling at the sweeps, and the watch, armed
to the teeth, were clustered fore and aft, on the alert to guard against any attempt at an outbreak among them.
The canvas was all closely furled, so that we had an uninterrupted view of the sky from horizon to zenith, all
around, toward the latter of which the delicate, tapering, naked spars pointed as steadily as the spires of a
church. The boatswain, however, was eagerly directing Mendouca's attention toward small, dark object, broad
on our starboard bow; and turning my gaze toward it, I made out a brig under her two topsails, jib, and trysail,
with her courses in the brails. Mendouca had already seized the night-glass, and with its aid was subjecting
her to a prolonged and searching scrutiny, upon the completion of which he handed the instrument to me, with
the remark, in English--
"Take a good look at her, Dugdale, and tell me what you think of her?"
I took the glass, and, having brought the stranger into its field, soon managed, by an adjustment of the focus,
to get a clear, sharply-defined image of her, as she floated motionless, a black silhouette, against the deep,
velvety, purple-black, star-spangled sky. And as I did so a certain sense of familiarity with the delicate,
diminutive, black picture upon which I was gazing thrilled through me. Surely I knew that low, long, shapely
hull; those lofty, slightly-raking masts; those spacious topsails? Even the very steeve of the bowsprit seemed
CHAPTER FOURTEEN. 94
familiar to me, and I felt certain that the superbly cut jib and handsome trysail could belong only to the
Barracouta! And, if so, how was I to act? It was plainly my duty to do anything and everything that might be
in my power to promote the capture of the daring slaver and unscrupulous pirate, whose guest--or prisoner--I
was; but had I the power to do anything? With that now thoroughly alert and even suspicious individual at my
side, and the watch on deck all about me, it was clearly evident that nothing in the shape of signalling could
even be attempted with the slightest hope or chance of success; and the only other mode of action that
remained to me appeared to be to carefully conceal my knowledge--or, rather, very strong suspicion--as to the
identity of the brig. I had barely arrived at this conclusion when Mendouca, with an accent of impatience,
interrupted my reverie with the exclamation--
"Well, surely you have seen all that it is possible to see by this time? Or cannot you quite make up your mind
as to her character?"
"I have an impression that I have seen her before, and it seems to me that she bears a very striking
resemblance to the Spanish brig that was lying off Lobo's factory on the day of our first arrival in the Congo,"
said I; the happy idea suggesting itself to me, as I began to speak, that I might safely make this statement
without any breach of the truth, all of us on board the Barracouta having observed and remarked upon the
striking resemblance between the two craft.
"Um! it may be so," muttered Mendouca, with a strong accent of doubt in his voice, however. "Let me have
another look at her."
I handed over the glass with alacrity, for it was about my last wish just then to be questioned too closely as to
the character of the stranger; and Mendouca subjected her to a further long and exhaustive scrutiny. At its
termination he turned to me, and, with an accent of unmistakable suspicion, inquired--
"It hasn't suggested itself to you, I suppose, that yonder craft may be a British man-o'-war? You have seen
nothing so like her in your own squadron as to lead to the suspicion that she may be a dangerous enemy whom
I ought to be promptly warned to avoid?"
Now, had I not known that he had never seen the Barracouta, I should have scarcely known what reply to
give to this home question; as it was, however, I answered at hazard--
"Well, at this distance yonder vessel offers to my eye very little resemblance to the usual type of British
gun-brig; she is longer, and much lower in the water, and her masts are certainly further apart than is the case
with our brigs generally, you must see that for yourself; and it would be unreasonable to expect me to give a
more decided opinion at this distance and in so vague a light."
"Will you swear to me that you are honestly of opinion that yon brig is not a man-o'-war?"
"Certainly not," answered I, with pretended annoyance at his pertinacity. "She may be, or she may not be; it is
quite impossible to express a more decided opinion, under the circumstances, and I therefore must decline to
do so."
And I turned and walked away from him with an air of petulance.
Mendouca laid down the telescope, walked to the binnacle, and peered intently for a moment at the compass.
"Keep her way two points more to the southward," he ordered the helmsman.
This alteration in our course brought the brig about one point before our beam, distant about two and a half
miles, and if persisted in, would soon have the effect of increasing the distance between the two craft; and,
CHAPTER FOURTEEN. 95
unless we were already seen, rendered it quite possible that we might slip past unobserved, our spars standing
naked to the dark sky, and our hull lying low upon the equally dark water. There was, however, the hope that,
even at the distance separating the two vessels, the roll and grinding of the heavy sweeps would be heard in
the perfect stillness of air and water; and I felt confident that, if yonder brig were indeed the Barracouta, and
the sounds referred to extended so far as to reach the sharp ears on board her, they would be identified, and
their significance at once understood. But even as the thought passed through my mind it seemed to have also
occurred to Mendouca; for he strode toward the waist and exclaimed in a low, clear voice that was distinctly
audible fore and aft, but which would probably not have been audible half a cable's length away--
"Let those niggers knock off sweeping for the present, and send them below. And as soon as they are there
and you have clapped the hatches on--noiselessly, mind--let all hands set to work to muffle the sweeps with
mats, old canvas, pads of oakum, or anything else that you can lay your hands upon. It is unfortunate that this
was not thought of before; but it may not yet be too late."
The negroes, grateful for this unexpected respite from their exhausting toil, and of course quite ignorant as to
its cause, gladly tumbled below, and the gratings were carefully secured over them. Meanwhile the boatswain,
with one hand, dived below, and in a short time the two men re-appeared with a load of miscellaneous stuff
and some balls of spun-yarn; and all hands went diligently to work under Mendouca's personal supervision, to
muffle the sweeps, which was so effectually done that when, half-an-hour later, they were again manned, they
worked with scarcely a sound beyond the rather heavy splash of their blades in the water. Meanwhile, during
the progress of the muffling process--in which I had not offered to participate--I kept a keen watch upon the
distant brig, taking an occasional squint at her through the night-glass when I thought it possible to do so
without attracting Mendouca's attention. I do not quite know what I expected to see, for of course I knew
perfectly well that every eye in the brig might be steadfastly watching us, without our being able to detect any
sign of such scrutiny; and I was moreover fully aware that should we have been discovered, and our character
suspected, no visible indication of such discovery or suspicion would be permitted to reveal itself to our eyes;
and the same studied concealment would equally apply to the preparations for any investigation that they
might be moved to undertake. Still, I thought it just barely possible that by maintaining a strict watch I might
chance to detect some sign of alertness on board the brig, if she were indeed the Barracouta, as I strongly
suspected. Nor was I disappointed, for I did at length detect such an indication, not on board the brig herself,
but at some considerable distance from her, and immediately under the slender crescent of the setting moon,
where, while sweeping the surface of the water, moved by some vague instinct, I caught two faint momentary
flashes of dim orange radiance that to me had very much the appearance of reflected moonlight glancing off
the wet blades of oars. And if this were so it meant that we had been seen, our character very shrewdly
suspected--most probably from the steady plying of the sweeps for no more apparently urgent reason than that
we were becalmed--and that a surprise attack was about to be attempted from the very quarter where, under
the circumstances, it was least likely to be looked for, namely, straight ahead. Of course what I had seen might
merely have been a ray of moonlight glancing off the wet body of a porpoise, a whale, or some other sea
creature risen to the surface to breathe; but it had so much the appearance of the momentary flash of oars that
I was loath to believe it anything else. Assuming it to be what I hoped, my cue was now of course to distract
attention as much as possible from that part of the ocean that lay immediately ahead of us; and this could not
be better done than by concentrating it upon the brig, which now lay practically abeam of us, a short three
miles away. I therefore--no longer surreptitiously but ostentatiously--again brought the night-glass to bear
upon her, and allowed myself to be found thus when Mendouca came aft, after having personally
superintended the muffling of the sweeps and the putting of them in motion again.
"Well," he said, as he rejoined me, "have you not yet been able to satisfy yourself as to the character of that
brig?"
"No," said I; "but, whatever she is, they all seem to be asleep on board her. If she is a slaver, her skipper has
more care and consideration for his property than you have, for he at least allows his slaves to rest at night."
CHAPTER FOURTEEN. 96
"That is quite patent to us all," answered Mendouca drily. "But then, you know, he may not be running short
of food and water, as we are. Or--he may not be a slaver."
"Of course," I assented, with the best accent of indifference that I could assume. "But, slaver or no slaver, I
have not been able to detect a sign of life on board that brig for the last half-hour, or indeed from the moment
when I first began to watch her. I can make out the faint light of her binnacle lamps, and that is all. But the
fact of their being allowed to continue shining would seem to argue, to my mind at least, that, be they what
they may, they have no reason for attempting to conceal their presence from us. If you feel differently toward
them I think you would do well to extinguish your binnacle lights for awhile; the helmsman can steer equally
well by a star, of which there are plenty to choose from."
"Yes, of course; you are right," he assented hastily; "there can be no harm in doing that."
And going to the binnacle, he glanced into it, saw that the ship was heading on the course he had last set for
her, directed the helmsman to choose a star to steer by, and then himself carefully withdrew the lamps and
extinguished them.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN. 97
CHAPTER FIFTEEN.
THE AFFAIR OF THE `FRANCESCA' AND THE `BARRACOUTA'S' BOATS.
I continued to industriously scrutinise the brig through the night-glass, and, by so doing, contrived to keep
Mendouca's attention also pretty closely centred upon her; but I could see that he was fully on the alert. He
appeared to instinctively scent danger in the air, for he frequently assumed an anxious, listening attitude, with
a growing irritability that manifested itself in repeated execration of the slaves for the quite unavoidable
splashing sounds that they made in working the sweeps. He was also intently watching the thin crescent of the
setting moon that was by this time hanging on the very verge of the western horizon; and I suspected that he
was awaiting her disappearance to put in practice some stratagem--such as, perhaps, a further alteration of the
ship's course--as an additional safeguard. But, whatever may have been his intentions, they were all altered by
an unlucky discovery made by one of the men on the forecastle, who, at the very moment when the moon was
in the act of sinking behind the horizon, caught sight for a moment of a large boat full of men strongly
outlined against the golden crescent, and immediately reported the fact, coming aft that he might do so
without raising his voice.
"A boat!" exclaimed Mendouca anxiously, when the man had told what he had seen. "Are you quite sure?"
"As sure as I am that I am now standing here speaking to you, senor," answered the man, in a tone of
conviction. "Jose saw it also. We were both watching the disappearing moon, and when she was about
half-way below the horizon we suddenly saw a large boat, pulling, I should say, at least twelve oars, glide
swiftly across her face, as though steering to the southward on a line that would cross our course."
"Phew!" ejaculated Mendouca; "that looks serious. For it undoubtedly means that the brig's people are by no
means as fast asleep as you have imagined them to be, Dugdale. How far off did you judge the boat to be
when you saw her?" he demanded, turning again to the seaman.
"A matter of a mile and a half, or perhaps a trifle more," was the answer.
"Very well, then, that will do," answered Mendouca. "`Forewarned is forearmed,' as the English say. As you
go forward pass the word along for the sweeps to be laid in and stowed away, and for the negroes to be sent
below, and the hatch gratings put on and secured. And, do you hear, everything must be done as noiselessly as
possible."
"Bueno, senor," answered the man, as he turned away to do Mendouca's bidding; and in a few minutes the
sweeps were laid in and stowed away, and the brigantine's head gently turned more to the southward, in order
that she might drift in that direction as long as she retained her way. Then, the slaves having been driven
below and secured, the decks were rapidly but noiselessly cleared for action, the guns were cast loose and
loaded, a liberal supply of grape and canister was passed on deck, arms were served out to the men, and the
boarding nettings were triced up all round the ship. The whole of the work was executed so rapidly and
silently as to clearly demonstrate that the crew was a thoroughly seasoned one, inured to fighting, and by no
means averse to it when the chances were in their favour, as they certainly were in the present instance; and I
was filled with chagrin and disgust at the thought of how simple an accident had sufficed to mar and defeat
what might otherwise have proved a perfect surprise to Mendouca and his crew. Still, although I could not
conceal from myself the fact that this apparently trivial accident had placed the attacking party at a woeful
disadvantage, by warning their antagonists of the intended attack, and thus putting them on the alert, I had
seen enough of British pluck to hope that even yet, despite all, it might still prove successful; and I awaited
the event with no small anxiety, quite determined that if the slightest chance offered of affording any aid to
the assailants, I would avail myself of it, let the consequences to myself be what they would. But Mendouca
soon proved that he was not the man to overlook any such peril as this; for presently, when by personal
inspection he had satisfied himself that everything was in readiness, he came up to me and said, with just the
CHAPTER FIFTEEN. 98
suspicion of a sneer in the tones of his voice--
"Now, Dugdale, I will not pay you so poor a compliment as to suppose you capable of treacherously making
use of your present position on board my ship, to raise your hand against the man who gave you your life, at
the moment when his whole attention will be needed to protect himself against outside enemies. Still, your
conscience appears to be a very curious and inscrutable thing, and there is no knowing what it may prompt
you to do under the influence of excitement and misguided enthusiasm. In order therefore that you may be
placed beyond the danger of temptation to do something that you would probably afterwards have cause to
bitterly regret, I will ask you to go below to your cabin, where, for your own safety's sake, I will take the
liberty of locking you in, with a companion whose duty it will be to see that you remain there and do not
commit yourself by any rash act."
"Oh, certainly!" I answered, rather bitterly. "Needs must when the devil drives; so lead on, most courteous
senor."
"Look here, Dugdale," said he, apparently rather hurt by my tone, "you must not feel yourself aggrieved at my
action in this matter. What I propose to do is for your own good and safety, quite as much as by way of a
safeguard of my own. My men are fairly amenable to discipline in their calmer moments, as you have
doubtless discovered by this time; but I should be sorry to answer for them in the excitement of a
fiercely-contested fight, such as this is likely to be; and since you have persistently refused to join us out and
out, I honestly think it will be safer for you to be below out of sight until we have driven those meddlesome
boats off."
"Very well," said I; "it must of course be as you please. Only, for mercy's sake, spare me the humiliation of
mounting a guard over me!"
He looked me intently in the eyes for a moment, and then said--
"All right, I will; you shall be locked up by yourself. Only, for your own sake, be careful to behave exactly as
you would in the presence of a guard; for I promise you that, if I have the slightest reason to suspect any
treachery on your part, you will be sorry that I ever spared your life. Now, come along, for there is no time to
spare."
I accordingly followed him below and entered my cabin, closing the door behind me, and I immediately heard
him turn the key and withdraw it from the lock, after which he went on deck again; and for a time the most
perfect stillness and silence reigned throughout the ship.
The silence was not of long duration, however; for I had scarcely been in my cabin ten minutes when I heard a
low murmur of voices overhead, and the next instant Mendouca's voice pealed outs loud and clear, in
English--
"Ho, the boats ahoy! Who are you, and what do you want?"
There was some reply that I could not catch, the voice evidently coming from a point at some distance from
the ship, on the opposite side to that occupied by my cabin. It was probably an inquiry as to name and
destination of the brigantine, for Mendouca shouted--
"The Nubian Queen, of and for Liverpool, from the Brass river, with oil and ivory. Keep off, or I will fire into
you! I warn you that we are armed, and are quite prepared to defend ourselves."
A long hail from the boats now followed, to which Mendouca replied--
CHAPTER FIFTEEN. 99
"If you do it will be at your peril; I have been cleared out once before just about this same spot, and I do not
intend to be robbed a second time. Keep off, I tell you! If you advance another stroke I will fire!"
And instantly afterwards I heard him say to his own men in Spanish--
"Now, lads, you have them all in a cluster, let them have it. Fire!"
The sharp, ringing report of the brigantine's nine-pounders immediately pealed out, and even through the
shock and concussion of the discharge I thought that, as I stood with my ear at the open port, I caught the
sound of a crash. Whether this was so or not, there could be no mistake about the screams and groans of
agony that came floating over the water in response to our broadside, mingled with cries of command, the roll
and dash of oars in the water, a rattling volley of musketry, and the deeper notes of two boat-guns fired almost
together, the shot of one at least of which I heard and felt strike the hull of the brigantine.
All was now in an instant noise and confusion on deck; the silence that had held the tongues of the crew was
now no longer necessary, and the jabber, the oaths, the shouting, the loud, defiant laughs, the rumbling of the
gun-carriages, the creaking of tackle-blocks, the thud of rammers and sponges, the calls for cartridges, all
combined to create a hubbub that would not have shamed the builders of Babel; and through all and above all
rose Mendouca's voice in short, sharp sentences of appeal, encouragement, and direction to his men. I could
hear, by the furious grinding of handspikes, the breathless ejaculations of the men, and the crash of the
gun-carriages as the guns were run out, that the Francesca's crew were working like demons; and almost
before I could have believed it possible, they had again loaded their guns and a second broadside rang out
over the still water, to be again followed by a still more gruesome chorus of cries and groans, and the sudden
cessation of the sound of the oars, loud above which rose the exultant cheers of the ruffians on deck.
"Hurrah, lads!" I heard Mendouca exclaim joyously; "load again smartly, but with grape and canister only this
time. We have checked them for a moment, but they have not yet had enough, I fear; they will come at us
again as soon as they have picked up their shipmates, so now is your time; load and let them have it while
they are stationary!"
And while he was speaking I could also hear a voice--that, unless I was greatly mistaken, belonged to Young,
the first luff of the Barracouta--exclaiming at no great distance--
"Pull starboard, back port; now back, hard, all, and let us pick up those poor fellows before the sharks get the
scent of them! Easy all; steady, lads, steady; hold water! Now then, my hearties, lay hold of the oars and let us
get you inboard sharp; we can't afford to lie here to be peppered. Help the wounded, those of you who are
unhurt. That's your sort, Styles, bring him along here; is he still alive, do you think? All right, I have him!
Now then, coxswain, heave with a will, but don't hurt the poor fellow more than you can help. Gently, man,
gently; now lift handsomely, so--"
Crash! the relentless broadside of the Francesca again pealed forth, and again uprose that dismal wail of
shrieks in testimony of its too terribly truthful aim. Frantic cheers and shouts of exultation burst from the lips
of the slaver's crew, in the midst of which Mendouca's voice rang out--
"Now, stand by, men! here they come; but there is only one boat-load of them, and half their number must be
killed or wounded. Stand by with your pikes, pistols, and cutlasses, and let not one of them show his head
above the rail. Give them a volley from your pistols as they range alongside, and then trust to cold steel for the
rest. Now is your time! Fire!"
And at the word there followed a tremendous popping of pistols, mingled with the yells of the men on deck, a
British cheer that sent the blood tingling through my veins and made me anathematise my helpless condition,
the sharp, ringing clash of steel upon steel, and a furious trampling of bare feet upon the planks overhead.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN. 100
The scuffle continued for fully three minutes, and must have been very hot while it lasted, for all through the
hubbub the cries and groans of the freshly-wounded were continuous. I could hear the dull crunching sound of
the sharp cutlasses shearing through bone and muscle, the shrill scream of agony, the heavy thud of bodies
falling to the deck, oaths and execrations both in Spanish and in English, shouts of mutual encouragement,
yells of deadly hatred, the ceaseless trampling of feet, and all the indescribable medley of sounds that
accompany a sharp and stubbornly-contested hand-to-hand conflict; and in my feverish anxiety to share in the
struggle I forgot all about Mendouca's warning, and dashed myself frantically against the stout cabin-door in
an effort to burst my way out. Before, however, I could succeed the hurly-burly suddenly ceased, to be almost
instantly followed by a yell of exultation from the crowd overhead as the hasty rattle and splash of oars
proclaimed that the attacking party had been driven off.
"Now, men, to your guns again, quick! Load smartly and give them another broadside before they get out of
range!" shouted Mendouca. "Sweep them off the face of the water, if you can; let not one of them escape to
tell the tale!"
A loud shout of exulting assent to this brutal exhortation pealed forth; and I heard the rumbling of the wheels
on the deck as the guns were run in. This was more than I could endure; and again hurling myself furiously
against the cabin-door, I at length succeeded in bursting it off its hinges. To emerge from the cabin and rush
on deck was the work of a moment, and I reached the scene of action just as the loaded guns were being run
out.
"Stop!" I shouted. "What are you about to do, men? You have utterly mistaken your captain's orders if you
suppose he meant you to fire upon that boat! Order them to secure the guns," I continued, turning to
Mendouca; "it surely cannot be that you are going to allow the excitement of battle to betray you into the
committal of a cold-blooded murder? You have beaten off your enemies, and they are in full retreat; let that
satisfy you. Hitherto you have been fighting, and, as you are aware, the present state of the law is such that
you are held justifiable in your act of self-defence; but should you fire upon that boat now it will be murder,
and I swear to you that if you do I will testify against you for the deed, if I live so long. Man, have you no
regard for yourself? Do you suppose that the captain of yonder brig will be content to take the beating off of
his boats as a final settlement of this night's doings? I tell you he will follow you and hunt you to the world's
end, ay, and take you, sooner or later! And what do you suppose will be your fate if you murder that retreating
boat's crew? Why, you will swing for the deed, as certainly as that you now stand there glaring at me!"
"Have you finished?" he demanded, in a voice almost inarticulate with fury, his hand resting meanwhile upon
the butt of a pistol that was stuck in his sash.
"Yes," said I, "I have. That is to say, I have finished if I have succeeded in preventing the perpetration of an
act of miserable cowardice that in your cooler moments would cause you to hate and despise yourself for the
remainder of your life; not otherwise."
Slowly he removed his hand from the butt of his pistol and, with a bitter laugh, drew a cigar from his pocket
and lighted it.
"Secure the guns!" he shouted to his men. Then walking up to me and clutching me by the shoulder, he said--
"You have triumphed again. But I warn you that some day you will go too far, and pay for your temerity with
your life. Do you know that while you were speaking you were actually tottering upon the very brink of the
grave? Why I did not blow your brains out, I do not know. Boy, if you have any wish to live out your days,
never taunt me with cowardice again! There, go below, and do not let me see you again until I have recovered
my self-command, or even yet I shall do you a mischief."
"No," I said, "I will not go below; it is my watch on deck, and I mean to keep it. I have no fear of your temper
CHAPTER FIFTEEN. 101
getting the better of you now, so I shall remain where I am--that is, if you will trust me with the charge of the
deck. I am fresh, while you are fagged with exertion and excitement, so it is for you to go below and get some
rest, not I."
Mendouca laughed again, this time quite genially, and said--
"Very well, let it be as you say; I will go below and rest. And if it is any comfort to you to know it, I do not
mind acknowledging now that I am glad you intervened to prevent me from firing on that boat. Keep her as
she is going and let the niggers man the sweeps again; you are right about that brig, she will follow us to the
world's end--if she can, so we must put all the distance possible between ourselves and her while this calm
lasts."
And, repeating to the boatswain his orders respecting the manning of the sweeps, this singular man nodded
shortly to me and dived out of sight down the companion-way.
In a few minutes a gang of slaves was again brought on deck and put to the sweeps; and steering a course of
about south-south-west, we were soon once more moving through the water at a speed of about three knots.
This course was followed all through the night and up to eight o'clock the next morning, at which hour--one of
the men having been sent aloft as far as the royal-yard to see whether any sign of the brig could be discovered,
and having returned to the deck again with an intimation that the horizon was clear all round--the brigantine's
position was pricked off upon the chart and her head once more pointed straight for Cuba.
We had by this time traversed a distance of fully sixty miles under the impulsion of the sweeps alone, and
everybody was anxiously watching for some sign of a coming breeze; yet, despite the already long
continuance of the calm, the heavens were still as brass to us, clear, cloudless, blue as the fathomless depths
beneath our feet, not the merest vestige of cloud to be seen, the mercury still persistently steady at an
abnormal height, the sea as smooth and motionless as a sheet of glass, and not the smallest sign to justify us in
hoping for any change. The heat was something absolutely phenomenal; the deck planking was so hot that we
all had to wear shoes to protect our feet from being scorched; a gang of negroes was kept constantly at work
drawing water with which to flood the deck; yet, despite this precaution, and despite, too, the awnings which
were now spread fore and aft, the pitch in the seams of the planking became so soft that if I stood still for only
a few seconds I found myself stuck fast. I pitied the unfortunate blacks from the bottom of my heart, for they
were relentlessly kept toiling at those horrible sweeps without intermission all through the day, and that, too,
upon a short allowance of water; but it was useless to interfere, for even I had begun to understand by this
time that, unless the brigantine could be taken out of that awful region of apparently eternal calm, every one
of us, black and white together, must inevitably perish miserably of thirst.
This terrible weather lasted all through that and the following day, during which, with torment indescribable
from thirst and the lash of the boatswains' colts, the miserable slaves propelled the ship no less a distance than
one hundred and fifty miles. Oh, how fervently I begged and entreated Mendouca to have mercy upon the
unhappy creatures, and to at least give orders that they must be no more flogged, even if inexorable necessity
demanded that they must be kept toiling at the sweeps. But the wretch was as adamant, he laughed and jeered
at my sympathy with the poor creatures, and--as much, I believe, to annoy me as for any other
reason--persistently refused to give the order, declaring that, since they would receive many a sound flogging
when they got ashore--if indeed they ever lived to reach it--it was just as well that they should learn to endure
the lash at once. At which brutal statement I went temporarily mad, I think--at all events I did what looked
like a thoroughly mad thing; I went on deck and, walking up to the boatswain, informed him that if he or his
mate dared to strike a negro again I would knock them both down. Mendouca, highly amused at my heat and
excitement on behalf of the negroes, had followed me on deck, probably to see what I would next do; and
upon hearing this threat he called out, jeeringly--
"Look out, Jose, my man! Senor Dugdale has warned you, and you may be sure that if you strike one of those
CHAPTER FIFTEEN. 102
niggers again he will carry out his threat!"
The boatswain saw at once how the land lay, and that Mendouca was only amusing himself at my expense;
feeling confident therefore of his captain's countenance and protection, I suppose, he, for answer, raised his
colt and smote the nearest negro a savage blow over the shoulders with it.
Of course, after my possibly foolhardy threat there was but one thing to do, and I did it forthwith, hitting out
with my whole strength, catching the boatswain fair between the eyes, and rolling him over like a ninepin.
"Ha, ha! well hit!" exclaimed Mendouca, laughing heartily at the sight of the boatswain as he reeled and fell
under the feet of the negroes. "I warned you, Jose, my lad; and now you see the evil results of neglecting my
warning! No, no," he hastily continued, starting to his feet; "put up your knife, man; that will never do! I
cannot afford to spare Senor Dugdale--at least not just yet--ah! would you? Look out, Dugdale! bravo! well hit
again! Serves you right, Jose; you should never draw your knife upon an unarmed man."
For the fellow had hastily scrambled to his feet, and, with his drawn knife in his hand, made a rush at me, his
eyes blazing with fury. And, as the only way of defending myself at the moment, I had seized his uplifted
right hand with my left, giving it a wrench that sent the knife spinning over the bulwarks into the sea, while
with my right I again knocked him down.
"Now, Jose," exclaimed Mendouca, "that ends the matter; do you hear? I cannot spare Senor Dugdale, so if he
is found with a knife between his ribs I shall hold you responsible for it, and I give you my solemn promise
that I will run you up to the yard-arm and leave you there until it will not matter to you what becomes of your
miserable carcase. And I hope that the thrashing you have received will make you use a little more
discrimination in the use of your colt. If a nigger won't work, make him, by all means; but so long as they are
willing to work without thrashing, leave them alone, I say. As for you, Dugdale," he continued, in English,
"had I suspected that you really meant to carry out your threat, I would have taken steps to prevent it. I will
not have my men interfered with in the execution of their duty. If they do not perform their duty to my
satisfaction, I will take such steps as may seem necessary for their correction, so you need not trouble yourself
further in that direction. Why, man, if I were to give you a free hand, we should have a mutiny in less than a
week. Moreover, you have made one deadly enemy by knocking Jose down, and you may consider yourself
exceedingly fortunate if my authority proves sufficient to protect you from his knife. Take care you make no
other enemies among the men, or I will not be answerable for your safety."
This occurred shortly before sunset, and all through the hot and breathless night the unhappy negroes were
kept toiling at the sweeps in gangs or relays, the result being that when morning dawned the poor wretches
seemed, one and all, to be utterly worn-out. Yet still there was no respite for them; and when I again
attempted to remonstrate with Mendouca, that individual simply pointed to the serene, cloudless sky, with the
blazing, merciless sun in the midst, and savagely asked whether I wanted all hands to perish of hunger and
thirst. This occurred while we were at breakfast; and when we went on deck at the conclusion of the meal, my
enemy the boatswain drew Mendouca's attention to the upper spars and sails of a ship just rising slowly above
the horizon on our starboard bow. I never saw so sudden a change in a man's demeanour as took place in that
of Mendouca when his eye rested upon that distant object; hitherto he had been growing every day more
savage and morose, but now his good-humour suddenly returned to him, and, ordering the brigantine's head to
be pointed straight for the stranger, he shouted, in the gladness of his heart--
"Hurrah, lads, there is relief for us at last! We shall find what we want--food and water--on board yon
stranger, and also a way of persuading them to let us have it, or I am greatly mistaken!"
The significance of the last part of this remark was, to my mind, unmistakable. If he could not get by fair
means what he wanted, Mendouca had already made up his mind to take it by force; in other words, to commit
an act of piracy.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN. 103
I was sorry for the crew of the unlucky craft, for I felt convinced that Mendouca would have but scant
consideration for their future wants while satisfying his own; yet the sight of the stranger filled me with
almost delirious delight, for here was a chance--if I could but contrive to avail myself of it--to make my
escape from my present surroundings. True, if I were permitted, or could contrive, to throw in my lot with
those people yonder, I should probably have to face terrible suffering in the shape of hunger and thirst, but,
after all, that would be less unendurable than my present situation; and I determined that, whatever might
happen, I would certainly make an attempt to join them, always provided, of course, that the craft was honest,
and not of a similar character to the Francesca.
As we neared the stranger she proved to be a handsome, full-rigged ship of about a thousand tons
measurement, or thereabouts, and I thought that she had somewhat of the look of one of the new British
clipper Indiamen that were just at this time beginning to supersede the old-fashioned, slow, lumbering tubs
that had been considered the correct kind of thing by John Company; if she were, she would probably have a
crew strong enough not only to successfully resist the demands of Mendouca, but also to protect me, should I
be able by any pretext to get on board her. The difficulty, of course, would be to do this; but if, as I rather
expected, Mendouca should elect to lay the Francesca, alongside the ship and endeavour to carry the latter by
a coup de main, I would board with the rest, taking my chance of being run through or shot down in the
attempt, and immediately place myself under the protection of the stranger's crew. It was of course easy
enough to arrange this scheme in my own mind, but even a very slight deviation on Mendouca's part from the
programme which I expected him to adopt might suffice to nullify it; nevertheless, it appeared probable that
my surmise as to Mendouca's intentions would prove correct, for if he did not mean to lay the stranger aboard
and carry her with a rush, I could scarcely understand the boldness with which he was approaching her in
broad daylight, with his strongly-manned sweeps proclaiming to the most unsuspicious eye the dubious
character of the brigantine.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN. 104
CHAPTER SIXTEEN.
THE CAPTURE AND PLUNDERING OF THE `BANGALORE,' INDIAMAN.
It was just six bells in the afternoon watch when we at length arrived within a distance of about half-a-mile of
the stranger, which had by this time been unmistakably made out to be a British passenger ship of one of the
crack lines; first by her having hoisted British colours some time before, and secondly by the crowd of
well-dressed ladies and gentlemen that, with the aid of the telescope, we could see congregated on her poop.
Mendouca also had hoisted the British ensign, and, to my supreme indignation, a man-o'-war's pennant, his
object in doing so being, of course, to disarm suspicion as long as possible, and thus leave the ship only a very
brief length of time to prepare for defence when our intention to attack her became no longer possible of
concealment. I remonstrated with him upon this desecration of the colours that he had once fought and hoped
to win fame under; but of course my remonstrance was quite useless, the rascal only laughed at me.
Having arrived within the above-named distance of the ship, Mendouca ordered the sweeps to be laid in, and
the slaves to be driven below and secured. This done, to my disgust his next order was to hoist out the
boats--of which the Francesca, unlike most slavers, carried three; and as soon as they were in the water, the
entire crew were armed, and the whole of them, except my especial enemy, Jose, and an Englishman--a very
quiet, inoffensive fellow, whom I was surprised to find among a crew of such ruffians--were ordered down
over the side. This completely upset my plans, for, of course, the only way now of reaching the stranger was
by means of the boats, or by swimming; and while I would gladly have gone in one of the boats, and taken my
chance of reaching the stranger's deck alive, I was not quite prepared to throw away my life in an unsuccessful
effort to swim to the ship--for that is what it would have meant, the water being alive with sharks that had
followed us, day after day, with alarming persistency, ever since we had taken to the use of the sweeps.
Besides which, I should of course not have been permitted to make the attempt. Of course, had I chosen to tell
a deliberate falsehood, and declared my readiness to throw in my lot with Mendouca and his crew, it is
possible that I might have been given the command of one of the boats; but not even for the purpose of
effecting my escape did I consider that such a course would be justifiable. So I had perforce to remain where I
was, under the jealously watchful eye of Jose, if not of the Englishman also; Mendouca asking me ironically,
as he went down the side last of all, whether I had no letters for home or elsewhere that I would like to
forward by means of the stranger.
Now that the sweeps were laid in, and their everlasting grind and roll and splash were no longer heard, the
silence of nature seemed so profound as to be almost awe-inspiring; there was literally not a sound to be heard
save such as were caused by human agency, such as the movements and voices of the men in the boats, or the
gasping sighs of the unhappy negroes cooped up below in the stifling hold. Occasionally a slight murmur of
sound reached us from the distant ship; the call of an officer uttering a command, the "Yo-heave-oh" of the
crew, or a gang of them, engaged upon some heavy job, and an occasional rumbling that to my ear sounded
very much like that of carronade slides in process of being trained to bear upon some object. But if the ship
was armed there was no sign of it, her sides being decorated with painted ports only, so far as I could see.
When, however, the boats had traversed about half the distance between the brigantine and the ship, a man
appeared in the mizen rigging of the latter, and, hailing them in English in a voice which rendered his words
perfectly audible to us on board the Francesca, demanded to know what they wanted. I saw Mendouca rise in
the stern-sheets of his boat, and heard him make some reply, but I could not distinguish what it was, perhaps
because he had intentionally made it unintelligible. Whatever the words may have been, they were clearly
unsatisfactory; for the figure in the rigging waved its hand warningly, and shouted--
"Keep off, whoever you are; you are far too strong a party to be allowed to come alongside us; and I warn you
that if you attempt to do so we shall fire upon you! If you have any legitimate business with us let one boat,
with a crew of not more than five, come alongside, and welcome; but we will not have the whole of you if we
can help it, and I think we can!"
CHAPTER SIXTEEN. 105
The boats had, up to this time, been paddling quietly and composedly along, the men evidently husbanding
their strength for a final effort; but now, in response to a shout from Mendouca, they bent to their work, and
sent the boats foaming along in a style for which I certainly should never have given them credit; they could
scarcely have done better had they been the British man-o'-war's men that they had pretended to be; the oars
bent, the water was churned into foam, and a miniature surge gathered under each boat's bow as the little craft
was suddenly urged to racing speed. Then the figure in the ship's mizen rigging waved an arm, and stepped
quietly down on to the poop, which by this time was occupied only by a band of men--evidently
passengers--who, under the leadership of a military-looking man, were handling their muskets and making
ready to open fire. At the signal given by the individual who had just stepped out of the ship's rigging--and
who was no doubt her captain-- eight hitherto closed ports in the stranger's bulwarks were suddenly thrown
open, as many dark, threatening, iron muzzles appeared, and, at a second command, the whole eight blazed
forth, and their contents, consisting of round-shot with a charge of grape on top of each, went hurtling through
the air in the direction of the boats. The aim was excellent, the shot flashing up the water all round the boats;
but, so far as I could see, not a man among either of their crews was touched. I heard Mendouca cheer his men
on, urging them to stretch out, and get so close to the ship, that by the time that the guns were again loaded, it
would be impossible to depress the muzzles sufficiently to hit the boats; and the men responded with the
nearest approach to a cheer that, I suppose, a Spaniard can give, pulling manfully the while. The ship's crew
were, however, too quick for them, and managed to give them another broadside just before the boats got
within the critical limit where it would have been impossible to touch them; and this time the discharge was
very much more effective, a round-shot striking Mendouca's own boat square on the stem just at the
water-line, destroying her bows and tearing several feet of her keel away, while the accompanying charge of
grape bowled over three of her men and shattered Mendouca's left arm at the elbow. The crews of the other
two boats suffered nearly as badly, one of them losing three men, while the other lost one man killed and five
more or less severely wounded, besides having to stop and pick up Mendouca and his crew, his boat sinking
almost immediately.
I thought that this severe punishment would have sufficed the Spaniards, and that they would have abandoned
the attack, and so, I imagine, thought the skipper of the ship, for while they were in this perilous predicament,
he magnanimously withheld his fire, giving them an opportunity to retire without further loss. And so they
would, in all probability, had Mendouca been a born Spaniard. But, renegade as he was, the British blood in
his veins still told, and, despite the anguish of his terrible wound, he no sooner found himself in the boat that
picked him up than his voice again rang out almost as loudly and clearly as before, still urging his men to
press forward, and reminding them that they were fighting for their lives, or--what was the same thing-- food
and water. It was probably this reminder that turned the scale among the waverers, for at the mention of the
word "water" they again seized their oars, and with a yell gave way for the ship. Evidently exasperated at this
quite unexpected exhibition of determination on the part of the pirates, the little band on the poop now opened
a smart and very galling fire with their muskets upon the boats, and I saw three or four pairs of arms tossed
skyward as the discharge rattled forth. But before the weapons of this little party of volunteers could be
reloaded the boats were alongside the ship, the pirates dropped their oars, and made a simultaneous dash for
the fore and main channels, and there instantly ensued a desperate melee in which the popping of pistols was
for the first half-minute or so a very prominent feature. I fully expected to see Mendouca and his crew driven
back into their boats with a very heavy loss; but, to my astonishment and sorrow, I soon saw that they were
more than holding their own, and in less than three minutes they had actually forced their way inboard, and
the right was transferred to the ship's decks. It was evident that the British crew were now making a most
determined and desperate resistance, for the fight was protracted to fully a quarter of an hour, the clink and
clash of steel, the shouts of the combatants, and the cries of the wounded being distinctly audible to us on the
deck of the Francesca. Then the hubbub suddenly lulled, and I heard cries for quarter, cries which, to my
bitter grief, I knew to be the sure indication of defeat on the part of the British crew. Then utter silence fell
upon the unfortunate ship for a few minutes, to be broken by the muffled sound of women's shrieks, men's
voices uplifted in fierce, impotent anger and denunciation, two or three pistol-shots that sounded as though
they had been fired in the ship's cabin, and then silence again; an ominous, dreadful silence that to my
foreboding mind might mean the perpetration of horrors to which those already enacted on the blood-stained
CHAPTER SIXTEEN. 106
decks were as nothing.
This silence prevailed for fully an hour, during which no sign of life was visible on board the ship; then arose
the sound of hilarious shouts and drunken laughter; there was a sudden stir and commotion about the decks; a
crowd of men gathered on the poop, many of them with their hands bound behind them--as I could see with
the aid of a telescope-- while others had their heads swathed in blood-stained bandages; a long plank was
rigged out over the taffrail; and then Mendouca appeared to be making some sort of a speech. If such was the
case the speech was a very brief one; and when it terminated a short pause ensued, and I saw that a few of the
prisoners--perhaps three or four, as nearly as I could make out--were being released from their bonds. Then
occurred another short pause, at the expiration of which a man was led forward, blindfolded, and guided to the
inner extremity of the plank, along which I could see that they were urging him to walk. He advanced a few
paces, paused, as though he had been addressed, and I distinctly saw him shake his head. As though this
movement of the head were a prearranged signal, the inner end of the plank suddenly tilted up, and the
unfortunate man, with a staggering movement as though to save himself fell with a resounding splash into the
sea, where for a few seconds he seemed to struggle desperately. Not for long, however; the sharks that had
been haunting us for so many days heard the splash, and after a few restless movements, as though unwilling
to leave us, darted off toward the ship. I saw the horrid triangular fins cleaving the surface of the glassy water,
each leaving its own delicate wedge-shaped wake spreading astern as it went, until the small ripples of the
different wakes met and crossed each other; then, as the distance between them and their prey lessened, there
was a sudden increase of speed which soon became a rush, the black fins merged toward each other, the water
swirled round the drowning man, there was a single ear-piercing shriek of agony, and the poor wretch had
disappeared.
This dreadful spectacle appeared to have had its desired effect, for I saw that several more of the prisoners
were now being released from their bonds, the released men, one and all, slinking down off the poop and
away forward toward the forecastle. There were others, however-- fifteen in all, for I counted them--whose
courage was not to be shaken even by this awful ordeal, and one after the other they boldly trod the fatal
plank, and went to meet their dreadful doom! All honour to them, say I, for the lofty courage that enabled
them to choose death rather than an ignoble and crime-stained life.
Then there was another long pause, during which, as I afterwards learned, the Francesca's crew were
rummaging the ship--a homeward-bound Indiaman, named the Bangalore--and loading her decks with booty
of every imaginable description, preparatory to its transfer to the brigantine. Mendouca, I must mention, had
already compelled the Bangalore's surgeon to dress his wound for him; and now, having given his orders to
one of the men whom he considered the most reliable and trustworthy of his crew, he returned to the
Francesca, and, with the aid of his son Pedro, was got into his bunk, where I could hear him from time to time
grinding his teeth in agony, although, such was the spirit of the man, not a groan would he permit to escape
him.
The sun had set, and the velvet dusk of the tropics was closing down upon the scene, when at length the
Bangalore's boats were hoisted out, and the work of transhipping the booty began. Mendouca must have felt
himself a second Kidd, for the ship was almost as rich a prize as one of the old Acapulco galleons; there were
bales of rich silks and shawls, spices, caskets of gems, ingots of gold, exquisite embroidered muslins, and I
know not what beside--goods of a value sufficient, it seemed to me, to make every rascal on the books of the
Francesca rich for the remainder of his life, although they were of course unable to take more than a
comparatively small quantity of the Bangalore's entire cargo. Nevertheless, they contrived to find room for a
goodly proportion of the most costly and valuable contents of the vessel's hold, the transfer of which, and of
as much food and water as they deemed necessary to their requirements, occupied the crew until midnight; for
in Mendouca's absence, as may be supposed, they did not trouble to exert themselves overmuch. Moreover, a
large proportion of them were in such a state of intoxication they scarcely knew what they were doing--my
especial bete-noir the boatswain among the number, he having seized an early opportunity to board the ship
after Mendouca had been safely bestowed in his own cabin. I did not know this until told so by Simpson, the
CHAPTER SIXTEEN. 107
English man whom I have already mentioned as having been left on board the Francesca that afternoon with
the boatswain and myself, who added to his information--
"Better keep your weather-eye liftin', Mr Dugdale, sir; that Jose's full of spite as an egg's full of meat; he have
never forgiven you for knockin' him down, and have swore over and over again to put his knife into you. And
now that he's full of drink, and the skipper's on his beam-ends, he's just as likely as not to try it."
"Yes, I suppose he is. Thank you for the warning, Simpson," said I. The man put his finger to his forehead in
acknowledgment of my thanks, but continued to linger near me; and presently it dawned upon me that he had
something further to say. So I turned to him and inquired--
"Is there anything particular that you wish to say to me, Simpson?"
"Well, yes, sir, there is, if I only knowed how to say it," answered the man, in a low, cautious tone of voice
and with a somewhat hesitating manner. He paused for a second or two, as though in consideration, and then,
looking me full in the face, said--
"I hopes you'll excuse me askin' of you the question, Mr Dugdale, but might you be a-thinkin' of gettin' away
out o' this here brigantine, supposin' that you sees a good chance for to do so? I ain't askin' out of any
impertinence or curiosity, sir, I beg you to believe; but my meanin' is this here, if so be as it happens that you
was thinkin' of any such thing, I was wonderin' whether we mightn't be able to go together, and be of sarvice
to one another in a manner of speakin'."
"Oh," said I, "that is your idea, is it? Are you not satisfied with your present berth then, Simpson?"
"No, sir, I'm not, to tell the truth of it," answered the man. "I know that it's rather a risky thing to say aboard of
this here wessel; but the truth is that I ain't satisfied at all, and haven't been for a long while; not since Mr
Arrowsmith--or Senor Mendouca, as he now calls hisself--took up to the piratin' business. So long as it was
just a matter of runnin' a cargo of slaves across the Atlantic, I didn't mind so much, for there was plenty of
dollars goin', and I didn't see that there was much harm in it, for I don't suppose the poor beggars is any worse
off on the sugar and 'baccy plantations than they are in their own country. But when it comes to work like
what's been done to-day, I wants to be out of it; and I don't mind sayin' so to you straight out, Mr Dugdale,
because you're a naval hofficer, you are, sir, and of course as such you're bound to be dead against such things
as has happened since you've been aboard here. Besides, I've been a-watchin' of you, sir--askin' your pardon
for the same, Mr Dugdale--and I've seen that this ship and her doin's ain't no more to your taste than they are
to mine."
"You are right, Simpson, they are not," said I; "and since you have been so frank with me, I will be equally so
with you. You have rightly guessed that I would gladly make my escape from this accursed brigantine, if I
could; and I had quite made up my mind that if, as I fully expected, Captain Mendouca had run alongside that
ship this afternoon, I would board with the rest, and then join the British crew in their defence of their own
ship."
"It's perhaps just as well then for you, sir, and for me too, that matters was arranged different," answered
Simpson; "because, if the thing had come off as you planned it, I don't suppose that your joinin' of the other
side would have made that much difference that they'd have beat off the skipper and his lot; and if they hadn't,
and you'd fallen alive into the hands of the skipper, he'd have--well, I don't know what he wouldn't have done
to you; but I'm mortal sure that you wouldn't have been alive now. But perhaps, sir, you've been thinkin', as I
have, that even now it mayn't be too late to do somethin'."
"Yes," said I, "I have. While you have been talking to me a multitude of ideas have thronged through my
mind, disconnected and vague, certainly, but still capable perhaps of being worked into shape. And I do not
CHAPTER SIXTEEN. 108
mind admitting to you, Simpson, that your proposal to join me in any attempt that I may be disposed to make
simplifies matters a great deal. The most important factor in the problem before us is: How will yonder ship
be dealt with when the Francesca's people have done with her? Will she be destroyed, or will she be left, with
those unfortunate passengers--most probably with no knowledge whatever of nautical matters--to drift about
at the mercy of wind and sea, to take her chance of being fallen in with, or to founder in the first gale of wind
that happens to come her way?"
"No, sir, no," answered Simpson. "You may take your oath that Captain Mendouca won't run the risk of
leavin' her afloat to be picked up and took into port, where her passengers could tell what tales they liked
about him and his doin's. She'll be scuttled, sir, and left to go down with all them passengers in her, the same
as that unfortunit' Portugee brig was that we took the slaves out of. But I've been thinkin', sir, that, even so,
two sailor-men, like you and me, might do a good deal, with the help of the gentlemen passengers, to put
together some sort of a raft that would hold all hands of us and keep us above water until somethin' comes
along and picks us up. Of course I knows quite well that it'll be a mighty poor look-out for the strongest of us,
and a dreadful bad time for the poor women-folk, to be obliged to take to a raft; but I expect they'd rather do
that and take their chance of bein' picked up than go down with the ship; and if you're willin' to face the job, I
am too, sir, and there's my hand on it."
I took the fellow's proffered hand and grasped it warmly.
"You are a good fellow, Simpson, and a true British seaman, whatever your past may have been," said I, "and
I accept your proposal, which I can see is made in perfect good faith. Now, it seems to me that all that we
have to do, in the first place, is to get on board yonder ship. The question is: How is it to be done without the
knowledge of any of the Francesca's people?"
"Well, sir," said Simpson, "I don't think as there'll be any great difficulty about that, so far as I'm concerned;
and I don't think there need be much with you neither, if you wouldn't mind changing your rig and shiftin' into
some togs of mine, so as these chaps of the Francesca, won't recognise you. Then, when the next boat comes
from the ship, we'll tumble down into her and offer to give two of the others a spell; they'll be only too glad of
the chance to get a little relief from the job of pullin' backwards and for'ards and the handlin' of a lot of stuff,
and, once aboard the ship, we can stow ourselves out of sight until they leave her for good and all."
"Very well," said I, "that seems as good a plan as any, and we will try it. Let me have some of your old
clothes, Simpson--a flannel shirt and a pair of canvas trousers will do--and I will shift into them at once. And
there is another thing that occurs to me. If we could manage to secure a little further help it would be so much
the better. Now, if I am not mistaken, a good many of the crew of yonder ship joined the Francesca this
afternoon as the only means of saving their lives. We must get hold of a few of them, if we can, and, by means
of a few judicious questions, find out whether they would be willing to throw in their lot with us and take their
chance of ultimate escape, rather than become slavers and pirates. With only half-a-dozen stout, willing
seamen a great deal might be done to better the state of affairs generally."
"You are right, sir, it would make a lot of difference, and I'll see what can be done," answered Simpson. "And
now, sir, shall I go and get you the togs? I s'pose that whatever we do might as well be done at once?"
"Certainly," said I, "the sooner the better. I can see no object in delaying our movements, now that we have
determined upon a definite plan."
"All right, sir, then here goes," answered Simpson. "I'll be back with the duds in a jiffey."
Simpson's "jiffey" proved to be a pretty long one, for it was fully twenty minutes before he returned with the
clothes--a thin flannel shirt that had seen its best days, and was so faded from its original colour and so
thoroughly stained with tar and grease that it was difficult to say what that original colour had been, but was
CHAPTER SIXTEEN. 109
therefore so much the better suited to the purpose of a disguise--a pair of equally faded dungaree trousers, and
a knitted worsted cap. But his delay had not been profitless, for happening to find in the forecastle two of the
crew of the Bangalore, who had been compelled to join the Francesca, and who, from their dejected
appearance, he conjectured were not altogether pleased or satisfied with the arrangement, he entered into
conversation with them, and soon contrived to elicit from them that his conjecture was well founded.
Thereupon, as there was no time to lose, he took the bold course of asking them outright whether, in the event
of there being a scheme afoot on the part of others to escape from the brigantine to the ship, they would be
disposed to join in it, to which they replied that they would gladly, and that indeed they had been discussing
the possibilities of such an attempt when he interrupted them by his descent into the forecastle. This was
enough for Simpson, who at once brought them aft to me, and I, finding them fully in earnest in their
expressed desire to have nothing to do with the pirates, forthwith unfolded my plans to them, carefully
directing their attention to the somewhat desperate aspect of the adventure, but at the same time pointing out
to them that every additional seaman whose help we could secure added very materially to the chances of a
successful issue. What I said seemed only to render them the more determined to sever their brief connection
with the pirates at any cost, and they unhesitatingly declared their readiness to join me, and to implicitly obey
my orders. More than this, they informed me that there were others of the Bangalore crew who, they were
sure, would be equally ready with themselves, if permitted, to take part in the adventure, and they consented
to hunt up as many of these men as possible at once, and to have them ready to meet me on the forecastle to
discuss the matter in a quarter of an hour.
My scheme, which, prior to my conversation with Simpson, had been of the most vague and nebulous
character, had now taken shape and wore so promising an appearance that I felt sanguine of its ultimate
success; so without further ado I retired right aft to the wheel grating--that part of the brigantine being now
quite deserted, and wrapped in total darkness save for the dim and diffused light that issued from the cabin
skylight--and there, unseen, shifted into the clothes that Simpson had brought me. They were not particularly
comfortable nor quite so well-savoured as I could have wished; but it was no time for ultra-squeamishness,
and I was soon transformed into a very colourable imitation of a fo'c's'le hand. This done, I went forward, past
the open hatchway down which the plunder from the Bangalore was being struck, noticing with bitter distress
and anger the forlorn, dejected, worn-out, and despairing attitudes of the unfortunate blacks closely huddled
together on the slave-deck, their forms faintly indicated in the yellow, smoky light of the lanterns which the
men were working by, and noticing too, with keen satisfaction, that most of the crew had reached that stage of
intoxication wherein the victim's whole attention is required for the conduct of his own affairs, with none to
spare for those of others. Many had gone considerably beyond this stage, and were staggering about, pulling
and hauling aimlessly at the first object that they could lay their hands upon, and proving far more of a
hindrance than a help to their less intoxicated comrades; while there were some who had reached the final
stage of bestiality, and were lying about the decks in a helpless condition of drunken stupor. Nothing more
favourable for our scheme than this condition of general intoxication could possibly have happened, unless it
were that Pedro was below, fully occupied in attending to his father, and was therefore the less likely to
discover my absence from the brigantine until it should be too late to take any steps toward the investigation
of the phenomenon; I therefore hurried to the rendezvous with a sudden feeling of elation and joyousness and
confidence in the conviction that the time of release from my exceedingly uncongenial and disagreeable, if not
absolutely hopeless, situation had at length arrived.
Upon reaching the forecastle-head--the appointed spot of our rendezvous--I found it tenantless; but presently a
man came lounging up to me from the group of workers about the hatchway, and, after peering into my face,
inquired--
"Got any 'baccy about you, mate? Mine's down below in my chest, and I haven't unlashed it yet. If you've got
any, just give me a chaw, will ye, and maybe I'll do as much for you another time."
"I am sorry to say that I have not any," I answered. "I do not use it except in the form of a cigar now and then.
But I expect my mate Simpson on deck every moment, and I have no doubt that he will be able to
CHAPTER SIXTEEN. 110
accommodate you. You are one of the new hands, shipped from the Bangalore, are you not? I don't seem to
remember having seen your face before."
"No, perhaps not, and it's precious little you can see now, I should think, unless you've got cat's eyes, and can
see in the dark," was the somewhat surly response. "Yes," he continued, "I'm Joe Maxwell, late carpenter of
the Bangalore, and--well, yes, `shipped' is the word, I suppose. And pray who may you be, my buck, with
your dandified talk-- which, to my mind, is about as like any fo'c's'le lingo that I ever heard as chalk is like
cheese? Are all hands aboard this dashin' rover of the same kidney as yourself?"
"Scarcely that, I think, as you seem to have already had an opportunity of judging," I answered, laughingly, as
I glanced in the direction of the hatchway. "No," I continued, determined to sound him forthwith, as his
speech and manner seemed to indicate that he was by no means satisfied with his changed lot, "I am a naval
officer, and a prisoner, I suppose I must call myself, although, as you see, I have the liberty of the ship. And
now, having told you thus much, I should like you to tell me candidly, Maxwell, did you join this afternoon of
your own free will, or under compulsion?"
The man looked at me searchingly for a moment, and then said--
"Well, I suppose when a man is asked a straightforward question the best plan is to give a straightfor'ard
answer. So, mister, I don't mind tellin' you that I j'ined because I was obliged to; 'twas either that or a walk
along a short plank."
"In fact, you joined merely to save your life," I suggested.
"Ay; pretty much as you, yourself, may have done," was the answer.
"I?" I exclaimed. "Surely, my good fellow, you do not mean to say that you imagine me--a naval officer--to
have joined this crew of thieves and murderers?"
"Blest if I know, or care," the fellow answered roughly. "Only, if you're a naval officer, as you say, and
haven't joined the `thieves and murderers,' as you call 'em, I should like to know how you come to be rigged
like a fo'c's'le Jack?"
I saw that the man was suspicious of me--perhaps thought I was endeavouring, for purposes of espionage, to
fathom his real feelings with regard to the service into which he had been pressed; I saw, moreover, that my
conjecture was correct, and that, despite his cautious replies, he was by no means satisfied with the
arrangement, and so determined to be frank with him at once, tell him what I contemplated, and invite him to
join me. As carpenter of the Bangalore he would be an especially valuable acquisition to our party. I
accordingly did so; and before I had finished I had the satisfaction of seeing that his suspicions had
completely disappeared, and that he was listening to me intently and respectfully. When I had brought my
disclosure and proposition to an end, he at once said--
"I'm with you, sir, heart and soul! Anything--even a raft--will be better than this thievin' and murderin' hooker
and her cut-throat crew! Yes, sir, I'm with you, for life or death. But, please God, it shall be life and not death
for all hands of us. Let us get away aboard at once, sir; I'm just longin' to tread the beauty's planks again; and
as to scuttlin' her--why, I'll make it my first business, when I get aboard, to shape out a few plugs and take 'em
down into the run with me--that's the only place where they'll be able to get at her under-water plankin'--and
as soon as they've gone I'll plug up them holes so that she'll be as tight as a bottle, and never a penny the
worse for what little they're likely to do to her. But it would please me a precious sight better to knock out the
brains of whoever dares to go down below to do the scuttlin' business."
"No, no," said I, "that would never do; the man would be missed, a search would be instituted, and heaven
CHAPTER SIXTEEN. 111
only knows what the consequences would be. No, the scuttling must be allowed to proceed, and the pirates
must finally leave the ship with the conviction that she is slowly but surely sinking. If all goes well this craft
will be out of sight before morning, and then, once clear of them, we shall have leisure to make our plans and
carry them out."
"Right you are, sir, and right it is," answered Maxwell. "You'll have to be our skipper now, sir, for poor Capt'n
Mason and all three of the mates is gone--one on 'em--Mr King--killed in the scrimmage, and t'others made to
walk the plank--so you'll be the only navigator that we can muster among the lot of us, as well as the 'riginator
of this here scheme for gettin' the better of these here Spaniards, so' you're the fittest and properest person to
take charge. All that you've got to do, sir, is to give your orders, and I'll answer for it as they'll be obeyed."
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN. 112
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN.
I ESCAPE FROM THE BRIGANTINE.
At this moment Simpson rejoined me, bringing with him three more of the Bangalore's crew; and while I was
talking to them the other two men-- those whom Simpson had previously discovered--came forward from the
hatchway, where they had been lending a hand to strike the booty down into the hold, and informed me that
they had found and spoken to eight of their shipmates, at work at the gangway and hatchway, all of whom
were quite ready and more than willing to join me at any moment when the signal should be given. A little
further inquiry elicited the information that our party now comprised all the survivors of the Bangalore's crew
who had, so to speak, made a virtue of necessity and shipped under Mendouca in order to save their lives;
there being four others who had shipped willingly, and whom it had, therefore, been deemed inexpedient to
approach with a proposal to join us, lest, in their zeal for their new chief, they should refuse and betray us all.
Our party, therefore, was now complete, and all that remained to be done was to carry out our plans with as
little delay as possible, and with twelve men at my back I felt tolerably confident of success; indeed, when I
first learned our full strength, the wild idea flashed through my mind of attempting not only to save the
Bangalore, but also to capture the Francesca. A moment's reflection, however, convinced me of the
impracticability of this scheme, for although, with the assistance of the ten male passengers who, I learned,
were at that moment prisoners in their own cabins on board the Indiaman, it might be possible to capture the
Francesca, in the then disorganised condition of her crew, it would certainly involve some loss of life on our
side, which we could not spare, and we should be able to do nothing with her when we had her, our whole
available strength being hardly sufficient to handle and take care of the ship, should it come on to blow, much
less to look after a prize as well. I therefore abandoned the idea, the more readily that I knew my story need
only be told to the proper authorities to cause the brigantine to be hunted off the ocean, and her atrocities put
an end to at once and for all.
Our arrangements, therefore, were soon made; and this done, we sauntered away to the hatchway, singly and
by twos at a time, and began to lend a hand in getting the plunder out of the boats and sending it below.
Presently the Bangalore's long-boat came alongside, loaded down to the gunwale with booty, and manned by
half-a-dozen Spaniards who were so drunk that they could scarcely stand. One of them, indeed, would have
lost his life but for Simpson and Maxwell; for the boat was steered alongside stem-on, and the shock of her
collision with the brigantine completely upset the balance of the man who was standing in the bows to fend
her off, so that he fell overboard between the boat and the brigantine's side. The fellow was partially sobered
by his sudden immersion, and finding himself overboard, began at once to sing out lustily for help, fully
aware that there were probably several sharks still hanging about the two vessels, and momentarily expecting
to feel their teeth; whereupon Simpson and Maxwell, both of whom happened to be at the gangway at the
moment of the accident, sprang down into the boat and succeeded in dragging the fellow safely out of the
water, though not a moment too soon, the water being all a-swirl with the rush of the sea-monsters as the man
was dragged inboard. The fright that he had received completely sobered him, but at the same time so
thoroughly shook his nerves that he at once scrambled on board the brigantine, declaring with many oaths that
he had had enough of boating for one night. His mates were but little better, and were glad enough to leave the
boat at my suggestion and allow me and my party to take their places.
We quickly roused the boat's cargo out of her, and then shoved off for the ship again, making a great fuss and
splash with the oars as we did so. When a few fathoms away from the brigantine, however, where in the
darkness our movements were not likely to attract a too curious attention, first one oar and then another was
laid in until all had been laid in but one; and this one we shifted aft, sculling the boat with it not to the
Bangalore's larboard gangway, at which the other boats were working, but under the ship's stern and to her
starboard mizen channels, where we made her fast, and cautiously scrambled up on to the poop, one by one.
Here we separated, the carpenter boldly making his way forward past the noisy, jabbering, drunken crowd
who were grouped about the main-hatchway, engaged in hoisting on deck the goods that the boatswain, down
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN. 113
in the hold, was selecting from the ship's heterogeneous cargo, while the rest--excepting Simpson and
myself--quietly stole up the mizen rigging, three of them concealing themselves in the top, while the rest,
continuing on up the topmast rigging, made for the main and foretops by way of the stays; the lanterns which
were being used to light the pirates at their work about the main-hatchway so effectually dazzling the drunken
ruffians' eyes, that there was not the slightest fear of any of the silent, sober figures stealthily moving about
aloft being seen by them; indeed so deep was the gloom created between the masts by the towering expanses
of the Indiaman's canvas that even I, far away as I was from the dazzling light of the lanterns, was unable to
follow with my eye the dusky, indistinctly-seen figures any further than the rim of the mizen-top. As for
Simpson, it was quite possible for him to move freely about the ship and go wherever he pleased without
exciting any suspicion, he being one of the Francesca's regular crew; I therefore instructed him to go down
into the saloon and ascertain whether any of his quondam shipmates were there, and to return to me with his
information as speedily as possible.
While he was gone I had time to look about me a little, and note such of the most prominent characteristics of
the ship as were to be seen by the dim light of the stars. She was a noble craft, as big as the generality of our
first-class frigates, though not quite so beamy, perhaps, in proportion to her length, not quite so high out of the
water, and of course not so heavily rigged. She carried a magnificent full poop that reached as far forward as
to within about twenty-five feet of the main-mast, with companion, skylight, deck-fittings generally, and poop
ladders of polished teak, handsomely and elaborately carved. The fore-part of the poop extended some six feet
beyond the cabin front, and underneath it her steering-wheel was placed, with a door on each side of it giving
access to the grand saloon. A long row of hencoops ran along each side of the poop; and the deck was further
littered with a large number of deck-chairs that had been hurriedly bundled out of the way behind the
companion, probably when it was seen that the brigantine undoubtedly meant to attack. The main-deck
exhibited all the confusion incidental to a sea-fight, the guns--sixteen twelve-pound carronades-- still
unsecured, with their rammers and sponges flung down on the deck beside them, shot lying in the scuppers,
overturned wadding-tubs, cutlasses, pistols, boarding-pikes, strewed all over the deck, and-- horrible
sight--several dark, silent figures lying stark and still in pools of blood, just as they had fallen in the fight. The
ship's davits were empty, both her gigs having been lowered to facilitate the transfer of the plunder to the
brigantine; her long-boat also was in the water, as already stated, but there were two fine cutters lying bottom
up over the quarter-deck, their sterns resting on the break of the poop and their bows-on the gallows. It was a
strange sight to look abroad into the dusky star-lit night and observe the boundless Atlantic stretching silent
and still on every hand, and then to turn one's eyes inboard and note the noisy, drunken, ruffianly rabble
grouped about the hatchway, naked to the waist, and toiling in the dim lantern light at the tackles by which
they were hoisting the bales of costly merchandise out of the hold.
But I had not much time to devote to moralising upon the incongruous sight, for after an absence of some
three minutes Simpson re-appeared from the saloon with the information that the place was clear, and that,
judging from the sounds he had heard, the passengers had all locked themselves, or been locked, into their
cabins.
This being the case, I determined to go below and make a brief investigation of the condition of the
unfortunate passengers, as well as to afford them such comfort as was to be derived from a communication to
them of my intentions. I accordingly descended the companion-way leading down from the poop, and found
myself in a small vestibule, the arrangement of which I could not very well see, as it was unlighted, save for
the lamplight that issued from the open door of the saloon; I caught a glimpse, however, of polished panels of
rare, ornamental woods, with gleams of gilded mouldings and polished metal handrails, and found my feet
sinking into the pile of a soft, thick carpet, which gave me a hint as to the luxurious appointments of the ship.
From this vestibule I passed into the saloon itself by a partially open door on the port side, and at once found
myself in an exceedingly handsome and luxuriously furnished apartment. It was long and rather narrow in its
proportions, having state-rooms on each side, as I could tell at a glance by the doors with Venetian slatted
upper panels that occurred at regular intervals in the longitudinal bulkheads on each side of the cabin. These
bulkheads were divided into panels by fluted pilasters with richly-carved and gilded capitals, supporting a
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN. 114
heavily-carved cornice picked out with gold.
The panels and pilasters were enamelled in a delicate tint of cream, with mouldings picked out in French grey,
the former being decorated with very handsome paintings illustrative of Oriental views and scenery.
Richly-upholstered divans occupied the spaces along the bulkheads between the several state-room doors; a
long table of polished mahogany, having sofa seats with reversible backs on each side of it, stretched down
the centre of the saloon, with another and shorter table flanking it athwartships at the after-end; a buffet
loaded with richly-cut decanters and glass, backed up by a large gilt-framed mirror, occupied the whole space
against the fore-bulkhead between the two entrance doors; and a very handsome piano, open, and with some
music on it, occupied a similar position at the after-end of the saloon, two doors in the after-bulkhead
proclaiming the existence of at least two more state-rooms. The apartment was lighted during the day by a
large skylight filled in with painted glass--in which were fixed opposite each other a barometer and a tell-tale
compass--and at night by two very fine silver-plated chandeliers each carrying six lamps, only four of which,
however, were now lighted; and the deck was covered with a rich, thick carpet, apparently of Oriental
manufacture, into which one's feet sank with noiseless tread. The state-rooms were all in total darkness
apparently, for I could catch no gleam of light issuing from the pierced upper panels of any of them; but the
sound of an occasional sob or moan told me that some at least of them were occupied.
I located one of the cabins from which these sounds came, and tapped gently at the door; there was no
response, but the sounds instantly ceased. I tapped again, and said--
"Will you open the door, please? I am a friend, and have some intelligence to communicate that may be
interesting to you."
Still no response; but from the next cabin there now issued a man's voice, inquiring--
"Do I hear some one out there proclaiming himself a friend?"
"Yes," answered I. "I am a friend; and my present object is to communicate to you some intelligence that I
hope may prove agreeable and comforting. I am quite alone and unarmed, and you may therefore open your
cabin-door without fear."
"Sir," replied the voice, "I know not who you are, or how you come to be on board this most ill-starred ship.
Your voice, however, has a reassuring tone in it, and I would risk opening my door to you if I could; but I
cannot, for--like all the rest of the passengers, I believe--I am bound and absolutely helpless, and I think that,
if you will take the trouble to try, you will find that we are all locked in. Pray, who are you, sir? and how did
you find your way on board the Bangalore? Are the pirates gone yet?"
"No," said I, as I tried the door and found that it was indeed locked. "I regret to say that they are not, and
therefore I am for the present obliged to leave you in your uncomfortable situation. But take comfort, and
believe me that it shall not be for one moment longer than I can help; the pirates are unlikely to very much
prolong their stay now, and as soon as they are at a safe distance I will come again and release you
all--provided, of course, that my plans do not go amiss. My name is Dugdale, and I am a naval officer--a
midshipman--who has been unfortunate enough to fall into the hands of the pirates in an unsuccessful attack
upon them more than a month ago, and this is the first opportunity that I have had to attempt my escape. I
must go again now, as my discovery on board here by the pirates would mean utter ruin to us all; but I will
return as soon as I can with prudence. Meanwhile," slightly raising my voice so that all might hear, "take
comfort, and hope for the best."
"Good-bye! Heaven bless and prosper you!" fervently ejaculated the unknown, as I moved away from the
door; and I thought I heard faint murmurs of a similar import from some of the other cabins, but could not be
certain, as one of the outer doors giving direct access to the main-deck suddenly opened, and I had to make a
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN. 115
dash of it for the dark vestibule in order to reach the concealment of the still darker companion-way to avoid
detection. My alarm was groundless, however; for the newcomer proved to be Joe Maxwell, the carpenter,
whom I saw enter the saloon, after a careful reconnaissance of its interior, with several plugs under one arm,
and a maul in his hand. Seeing who it was, I followed him, and unexpectedly ran against him as he was again
coming out.
"Who the--oh, it's you, sir! beg your pardon, I'm sure, but I thought it was one of them sneakin' pirate chaps
a-prowlin' round," he exclaimed. "I thought I heard a sound o' some sort as I comed in from the deck, and
thinks I, `That's one o' them cowardly villains that has sneaked aft for some purpose of his own that ain't no
good, I dare swear. I'll just see what the scoundrel's up to, and if he's after anything very houtragis, I'll maybe
take the liberty of smashin' his skull with this here maul, and droppin' him over the starn to the sharks, where
many a better man than he went this a'ternoon.' Lucky for him that it's you, sir, as the Irishman says. I'm just
a-goin' to make my way down into the run, so as to be all handy for pluggin' up the holes again that these here
murderin' thieves intends to bore through the dear old gal's skin. I think they'll be pretty sure to come aft to do
it; it'll either be there or down in the fore-peak, where they'd have to shovel away a lot of coal to get at her
below the water-line, so I expect they'll make for the run. Now, sir, it's a very good job as I met you just here,
because I can show you the lazarette hatch--here it is, under our feet." And he turned back a large mat upon
which we were standing, disclosing a small, square hatch flush with the deck.
"Now, sir," he continued, "I'll be off below at once; because, from what I saw as I comed aft, I fancy them
Spanish thieves is thinkin' about toppin' their booms, and if so, we've no time to spare. There," as he raised the
hatch and dropped through the opening, "I'm all right now, sir; I can make my way well enough without a
light, though I've got a candle and matches in my pocket that'll give light enough to work by as soon as them
villains have cleared out. Now, sir, please put on the hatch again, will ye, and don't forget to spread the mat
over it. And when them blackguards have gone you can send somebody to let me out."
"All right, Maxwell, never fear; I'll see to that," I answered, as the man disappeared in the gloom. "Good luck
to you. And whatever those fellows may do, be sure that you keep silent and do not attempt to interfere with
them; let them do their work and go away, and as soon as you hear the hatch close after them, go ahead and
plug the holes as quickly as you like, and be sure that you make a thorough job of it."
"Ay, ay, sir," came his reply, already muffled by distance and the intervening casks and cases among which he
was making his way, "you may trust me for that."
I carefully replaced the hatch, adjusted the mat over it, and made my way cautiously up on the poop. It was
evident, from what I now saw, that Maxwell was only just in time; for the pirates had knocked off work and
were coming up out of the hold, refreshing themselves as they emerged by copious draughts from a tub of
strong grog that stood on the deck conveniently near the hatchway. They were all pretty far gone in a state of
intoxication, and were singing a jumble of at least a dozen forecastle ditties in tones of maudlin sentiment, or
laughing and jeering at nothing in particular as they reeled and staggered about the deck. Disgusting as was
the sight, I was glad to see it, for I felt that men in their condition would never notice the absence of Simpson
or myself from the brigantine, still less that of the unaccustomed faces of those of the Bangalore's crew who
had joined me and were now snugly concealed aloft. Nor were they capable of doing very much more
mischief, unless perchance they should accidentally set the ship on fire, which was what I most greatly
dreaded; if, happily, we escaped this danger all might yet be well, for I felt convinced that, once on board the
brigantine again, and the unhappy negroes once more set to the sweeps, nearly every man in the accursed
craft's forecastle would betake himself to his hammock and stay there until morning. There was of course the
risk that Mendouca might send for me and ask me to look after his vessel for him through the night, knowing
or guessing as he would the condition of his crew; but I did not believe that he would, at least not so soon
after the perpetration of such fearful atrocities as he had openly committed that afternoon.
The men having helped themselves freely from the grog-tub, until it seemed that they could take no more,
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN. 116
tumbled rather than scrambled down into the boat alongside, and I was just beginning to cherish the hope that
after all they would go away forgetting to scuttle the ship, when I saw Jose, the boatswain--who appeared to
have assumed the command of the party--seize and detain the only man except himself who still remained on
the ship's deck. He said something to this man, and then they both staggered away forward and I lost sight of
them in the deep shadows that enshrouded the fore-part of the ship. They were gone about ten minutes; and
then they re-appeared, the boatswain armed with a large auger. As they passed the main-hatchway, on their
way aft, Jose seized one of the still lighted lanterns that were standing on the deck, and seemed to direct his
companion to take another. This the man did, and continuing their way aft, the pair entered the saloon from
the main-deck; and presently, peering cautiously down through the open skylight, I saw that the two ruffians
were groping about under the cabin table, no doubt searching for the lazarette hatch. Their search was of
course in vain; and at length I overheard the boatswain assert with an oath that it was useless to search for it
any longer, they must get the steward out of his pantry, and make him show them where it was. They then left
the saloon, and there was silence for a few minutes; then, going to the head of the companion-ladder, I heard
Jose demanding in broken English, with a profusion of expletives, where was the opening of the lazarette. A
strange voice replied in trembling tones; and then I heard the mat flung back and the hatch wrenched off with
a clatter. A few more oaths followed, there was a scrambling sound, and I concluded that the two miscreants
had descended to the performance of their dastardly task.
Then ensued what seemed like a very long--although it was actually a comparatively short--period of anxious
suspense, for completely successful as we had been thus far, our absence from the brigantine might easily be
discovered at any moment; and in that case there was no alternative for us between fighting to the death and
ignominious surrender. I was more anxious on my own behalf than on that of the others, for their absence was
scarcely likely to be noted by their drunken comrades until the next morning, while, as for me, should
Mendouca take it into his head to require my presence, it would no sooner be reported to him that I was not to
be found than he would have a very shrewd suspicion of what had happened; and I felt convinced that, with
my knowledge of the enormities that he had perpetrated on that dreadful day, he would never willingly suffer
me to escape from him alive. Then there was Pedro, too. The lad had, for some inscrutable reason, taken a
violent fancy for me, and, although I have not very frequently referred to him in the telling of this story, had
attached himself to me with almost the fidelity of a dog, sharing in my watch, and seizing every opportunity to
be in my company. Should he find himself at liberty to seek me I should be lost, for he would not be content
until he had found me. There were just two chances in my favour against many adverse possibilities: the first
being that Mendouca's condition would confine the lad to his side all through the night; the second lying in the
fact that I had taken the precaution to lock my cabin-door and remove the key before leaving the brigantine, so
that should it chance that I was sought for, it might be thought that I had locked myself into my cabin in anger
at the piratical deed that had been perpetrated. But I grew increasingly uneasy as the minutes dragged their
slow length along, expecting every moment to hear a hail from the brigantine inquiring as to my whereabouts.
It was therefore with a feeling of keen delight that, at the expiration of about twenty-five minutes, when my
state of suspense had become almost unendurable, as I stood listening at the head of the companion-way I
heard Jose's voice again, and the sounds of his own and his companion's emergence from the lazarette.
"There," I heard him exclaim in Spanish, in a drunken voice and with a jeering laugh, "that job is done, and
pretty effectually, too; I don't suppose she will float longer than three hours more, or four at the most, and then
who is to know what has become of her? It will be supposed that she foundered in a gale; and that will be the
end of the matter. It is a pity, Miguel, that we should be obliged to destroy so fine a ship, but she could never
be of any use to us, and necessity has no law, you know. Now--let me consider--there is one thing more to be
done before we leave; what is it? It was in my mind a moment ago! Ah, yes, of course, that is it; we have to
put this miserable poltroon of a steward back into his pantry, lock the door upon him, and--yes, that is all, I
think. Come along, amigo!"
I heard the steward begging piteously not to be locked up again; for although the fellow had probably not
understood a single word of what Jose had said, he had sense enough to know that the two ruffians before him
had scuttled the ship, and that if locked up in his pantry again he would probably drown there, like a rat in a
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN. 117
trap. His entreaties, how ever, were of course unavailing with two men who knew not the meaning of mercy;
there was a Spanish oath or two, the sound of a scuffle, mingled with further cries of distress from the
steward, the slamming of a door, the sharp click of a lock; and a moment later Jose and his companion
emerged upon the deck, staggered to the gangway, scrambled down the side, and the boat was shoved off.
I waited until the boat was fairly away from the ship's side, and then, slipping down the dark companion-way,
groped about until I had found the pantry, which I unlocked, to find the unhappy steward, bound hand and
foot, prostrate on the deck, weeping bitterly. In reply to my question he told me where I could lay my hand
upon a knife, finding which I cut him adrift, and directed him to go forward to the forecastle to ascertain
whether any of the crew were imprisoned down there. Then, making my way to the still open lazarette, I
swung myself down into it, and called Maxwell's name as loudly as I dared. He heard and answered me at
once.
"The rascals have left the ship," I cried, "so you may ram those plugs home as tightly as you can, and perhaps
even venture to give them a gentle tap or two, but we must leave the final driving until the brigantine has
moved off; everything has gone right thus far, and it will never do to spoil it all now by being impatient. Has
she taken in much water?"
"Not more than we can pump out of her in ten minutes," was the reply, as I sighted him creeping toward me
along the narrow space underneath the beams. "They only bored five holes through her, and I've already
plugged 'em tight enough to stop the water from comin' in--though of course they'll want a few good taps on
the head to make 'em all secure. But that job can wait until the brigantine is a mile or two further away."
"Had you any difficulty in plugging the holes?" I asked, as honest Joe emerged into the more open spaces
about the hatchway.
"Not a bit, sir," he answered. "You see the way of it was this: As soon as I got to understand that they was
likely to scuttle the ship, the first thing I says to myself was: `I wonder,' I says, `what size auger them
murderin' scoundrels is likely to use? Because if I only knowed that, I could make my plugs to fit the holes.'
Then the next thing I thought was that prob'ly they wouldn't remember to bring a tool aboard with 'em, and
that they'd hunt for some'at of the sort aboard here. So I goes to my cabin, gets out a inch and a half auger, a
chisel, a hammer and some nails, and places 'em on the tarpaulin of the fore-hatch, where anybody going
for'ard couldn't help seein' of 'em; and `There,' I says to myself, `if those fellers haven't brought no auger
aboard with 'em, that's the tool they'll use.' So I chanced it, and made my plugs to fit a inch and a half hole;
and, as it turned out, I was right; they used my auger what I had left for 'em, and as soon as their backs was
turned I slipped down and screwed the plugs into the holes."
"Excellent!" said I. "And now, Maxwell, the next job is to break open the state-rooms and release the poor
ladies and gentlemen who are confined there. Do you think you can do it without making much noise?"
"Lord bless you, yes, sir," was the cheerful reply. "I'll just go for'ard and get a bit of wire, and I'll pick the
locks of them cabin-doors in next to no time, and make no noise about it either."
"Then come along and let us get it done at once. That must be our first job," said I.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN. 118
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN.
RE-APPEARANCE OF THE `FRANCESCA'.
While Maxwell stole forward to get his wire, I crept up on the poop again, and carefully avoiding the skylight,
so that my figure might not be revealed by the coloured rays that streamed from it, found that the boat with
Jose and his companions, and the last of the plunder, was just going alongside the brigantine. The first to
scramble out of her was Jose; and there was light enough about the brigantine's decks to enable me to see that
he went straight aft to the companion, which he descended. He was absent from the deck but a very few
minutes, however; and when he re-appeared I supposed that he had been below to make his report to
Mendouca and to receive that individual's orders, for as he passed along the deck I heard him shout to the
crew--
"Now, then, look alive there with those bales, and get the deck clear as quickly as possible, so that we can get
the niggers on deck and the sweeps at work once more. We've got all that we can take from the Englishman,
and now the sooner we are off the better, for she won't float above two or three hours longer; and if a breeze
was to spring up, and bring a cruiser along with it, it would be bad for us if we were found in this
neighbourhood. So bundle those bales down the hatchway anyhow, men, and clear the decks at once. We must
stow the goods properly afterwards."
This was excellent--very much better than I had expected; for a dreadful idea had suggested itself to me, that
Mendouca might take it into his head to remain by the ship until she should show unmistakable signs of
sinking, in which case there would be nothing for us but another fight, which, short-handed as we were, would
not suit our book at all.
The men on board the Francesca, woke up a little at Jose's order, and soon had the last boat unloaded and the
decks clear; the slaves were then ordered on deck, the Bangalore's boats cast adrift, the sweeps rigged out,
and, with I think the most fervent emotion of gratitude and delight that I had ever experienced, I at length had
the satisfaction of seeing the brigantine stir sluggishly against the background of the star-spangled heavens,
turn her bows slightly away from us, and finally glide off, with a quiet, gentle, scarcely-perceptible motion, in
a westerly direction.
While I was still watching her I caught sight of Maxwell creeping along the deck from forward, under the
shelter of the bulwarks, so that the light from the still burning lanterns that the pirates had left behind them
might not disclose his moving figure to any of the eyes on board the Francesca that might be turned upon the
ship; and making my way down the companion, I joined him in the vestibule, and we entered the cabin
together.
I led him straight to the door of the state-room with the occupant of which I had previously held a short
conversation, and directed Maxwell to open it, at the same time knocking upon the panel and saying--
"Sir, I am happy to inform you that the pirates have at length left us, and we are about to make an attempt to
release you."
"Thank God for that!" fervently ejaculated a voice that I had not heard before. "Be as quick as you can, pray,
for I fear that my poor husband here is dead or dying; and he should be attended to without a moment's delay."
"That's Mrs Maynard's voice!" exclaimed the carpenter, as he worked away with his wire; "I know it well.
Somebody told me that the colonel was hurt--stabbed, I think they said, in protectin' his daughters from the
ill-usage of some of them Spanish ruffians."
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN. 119
"Say you so, man?" I exclaimed. "Then never mind fiddling with that wire any longer. Let us put our
shoulders to the door and burst it open!"
"Half a second, sir; I've got the thing now, and--there, that's all right! Now try the door, sir!"
As the man spoke I heard the click of the lock as it went back, and, turning the handle, the door opened, and I
entered.
The cabin was a fine, roomy one, and of good height, as cabins went in those days; it contained two standing
bunks, one above the other, fitted with brass rods and damask curtains, a sofa against the side of the ship, a
wash-stand in a recess between the bunks and the bulkhead adjoining the saloon, a framed mirror above it, a
folding mahogany table against the transverse bulkhead, brass pins upon which to hang clothing, a curtain to
draw across the doorway, a handsome lamp with a ground-glass globe hung in gimbals in the centre of the
transverse bulkhead, two large travelling trunks and three or four smaller cases, broken open and the contents
strewn upon the carpeted deck, and prone among them, bound hand and foot and lashed together, were the
figures of a man and woman, both evidently elderly, although their precise ages could hardly be guessed by
the imperfect light that streamed in from the saloon through the open door.
As I entered the apartment, noting these details in a single comprehensive glance, the woman moaned--
"Oh, sir, for the love of God pray release us from these cruel bonds as quickly as possible; they are bound so
tightly that the circulation of the blood is stopped, and we have been suffering the most excruciating agony for
hours."
"I will cut you adrift at once, madam," said I, unsheathing the long knife which was attached to the belt that
Simpson had lent me with the clothes. "Had I known that you were in this cruel plight, I would have risked
everything in the endeavour to release you when I first entered the cabin."
I cut the unfortunate couple adrift, and, having first taken the precaution to draw the curtain of the side-light,
lighted the lamp, and, with Maxwell's assistance, raised the lady into a sitting position; after which we lifted
her husband and placed him on the bed in the lower berth. He was a very fine, handsome man of about fifty
years of age, with that indescribable and unmistakable look of the soldier about him that seems to set its mark
upon every military man. His wife was perhaps seven or eight years his junior, still exceedingly good-looking,
and must, at her best, have been a singularly lovely woman.
The colonel, it appeared, had, in common with the other passengers who had any womankind on board,
locked his wife and daughters into their cabins when it was foreseen that an attack upon the ship was
inevitable; and it was after the fight was over that he was severely stabbed in resisting an attempt on the part
of one of the Francesca's crew to force open his daughters' cabin. Probably the poor man would have been
murdered outright but for the opportune appearance of Mendouca, who sternly ordered every one of his men
out of the cabin, except two, whom he personally supervised as they executed his order to bind all the
survivors hand and foot and confine them in the cabins. Luckily for the unfortunate passengers, the first
thought of the men had been drink, and the second, plunder; and by the time that these two appetites had been
satisfied, all thought of further violence had passed out of their heads.
The first thing now to be done was to find the ship's surgeon--if he were still alive; so, leaving Maxwell in the
cuddy to continue his lock-picking operations, I sallied out on deck and, first softly calling to the men aloft
that they might now venture to come down, hunted up the steward, and inquired of him whether he knew
where the surgeon was to be found. He answered that the surgeon, purser, and three mates were all berthed in
the after-house, between the main-mast and the main-hatch, and that probably the man I wanted would be
found there, adding that, as he believed the pirates had flung all the keys overboard, he would take the liberty
of going into poor Captain Mason's cabin, and bringing me a bunch of spare keys that he knew were always
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN. 120
kept there. This he did, and, finding the key of the after-house, we entered it together, to find the unhappy
surgeon and purser bound hand and foot, and lashed together in such a manner that neither of them could
move, upon the floor of the cabin. To release the pair was but the work of a moment; after which, having
directed the doctor to hasten to the cuddy and attend to the colonel's injuries, I made a survey of the decks
with the result that fourteen more of the Bangalore's crew were found, of whom six were dead, and eight
more or less seriously wounded; the latter were removed to their bunks in the forecastle forthwith and
attended to by Mr Grant, the surgeon, as soon as he had dressed the wounds of Colonel Maynard and two
other passengers. I may as well say here, to save time, that, thanks to Grant's skill and unremitting attention,
all the wounded were reported to be doing well and, with the exception of Colonel Maynard, out of danger.
The keys of all the cabins having been found, and the doors unlocked by the steward, Maxwell's services were
no longer required in the cuddy; as therefore the brigantine had by this time reached the tolerably safe distance
of a mile from us, I sent him down into the run again to drive the plugs well home and make them perfectly
secure, and set to work with the steward to release the remaining passengers from their exceedingly
uncomfortable condition. This was not a long task, and when it was completed I found that we mustered nine
gentlemen, of whom three were wounded, eleven ladies, three children--two boys and a girl--seven maids, and
an Indian ayah or nurse. One family, consisting of a lady and her daughter, were in a dreadful state of distress,
the husband and father--a Mr Richard Temple, resident magistrate of one of the up-country districts--having
been shot dead while gallantly fighting in defence of the ship. The rest were in fairly good spirits, now that
they found that there was a hope of ultimate escape from the perils that had so unexpectedly beset them; for I
learned that although their personal baggage had been rifled and all money and jewellery taken, they had been
spared any further outrage than that of being bound with unnecessary and cruel rigour and confined to their
cabins.
The poor souls had been without food or drink since tiffin. I thought therefore that it would not be amiss to set
them down to a good meal, and with that object directed the steward to find his mates and also the cook, if
possible, it appearing that none of the individuals named had been seen either during or since the attack,
which gave rise to the suspicion that they had contrived to conceal themselves somewhere about the ship. This
proved to be the case, the cook, with his mates, and the three under-stewards being eventually discovered in a
disused pig-sty under the topgallant-forecastle, carefully concealed beneath a lot of lumber that they had
dragged over themselves. From this secluded retreat they were speedily routed out, and, being solemnly
assured that all danger was now past, were at length prevailed upon to resume their duty and to prepare a
long-delayed dinner--or supper, as it might be more appropriately called--for the cuddy occupants.
When at length the meal was served, I took the liberty of occupying the poor murdered captain's seat at the
table; and while we were eating and drinking, I managed to gain a pretty clear idea of the incidents of the
attack upon the Bangalore each one having passed through some more or less trying experience which he or
she was anxious to relate to the rest; and when the meal was over Mr Molyneux, a Calcutta merchant, rose to
his feet and, while formally thanking me on behalf of himself and his fellow-passengers for what I had already
done, expressed their perfect concurrence in the wish of the surviving crew that I should take command of the
ship, merely suggesting the great desirability of navigating her forthwith to the nearest civilised port. This, of
course, was my own fixed intention, and I suggested Sierra Leone as the most suitable spot for which to make,
it being as near as any other, with the advantage that the necessary officers to navigate the ship home, and a
sufficient number of men to make up the full complement of the crew, might almost certainly be reckoned
upon being found there.
The brigantine had left us, and with her departure everybody appeared to consider the danger as past. This,
however, was an opinion which I by no means shared; for, knowing Mendouca so well as I did, I felt that it
was by no means unlikely that, having reached an offing of some ten or twelve miles, he might order the
sweeps to be laid in until daylight, in order that he might remain in our neighbourhood and assure himself by
the actual demonstration of his own--or Pedro's--eyesight that the Bangalore had foundered, taking with her to
the bottom all evidence of the atrocious crime of which he and his crew had been guilty. And, even should no
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN. 121
uncomfortable doubts on this point assail him, he must learn, ere the lapse of many hours, that I and others
were missing; and then, guessing, as he would at once, at the explanation of our absence, nothing would
prevent him from returning and taking, or attempting to take, such measures as would insure our eternal
silence.
I therefore considered it a singular if not an actually providential occurrence that when I went out on deck
after dinner--or supper--the sky should have become overcast, with scarcely a star to be seen, with every
appearance of both wind and rain ere long. It had become exceedingly dark, so much so that no sign of the
brigantine was to be discovered, but by listening intently the roll and clatter of her sweeps were still to be
caught; and it was with very deep and fervent thankfulness that, after listening intently for several minutes, I
felt convinced that she was still receding from us. I had given strict orders that the lanterns should be allowed
to remain burning on deck, just as the pirates had left them, that no other lights should be kindled anywhere
about the ship except where it was possible to effectually mask their light, and that no one should show
anything of himself above the level of the topgallant-rail upon any consideration; but now, the brigantine
having been gone from us rather more than two hours, I gave instructions that all the lanterns on deck and all
lights of every kind visible from outside the ship might be simultaneously extinguished, so that, should
anybody happen to be watching our lights, they might come to the conclusion that the ship had filled and we
were gone to the bottom. This done, I mustered my entire crew and, first hoisting in the long-boat, sent them
aloft to stow all the lighter sails, so that we might not be wholly unprepared should the change of weather that
now seemed impending be ushered in with a squall. This occupied the men a full hour and a half, at the end of
which, having brought the ship into tolerably manageable condition, I gave them permission to lie down and
snatch a nap if they could, but to hold themselves ready for any emergency that might arise.
It was by this time long past midnight, and so pitchy dark that, all lights having been extinguished, it was
impossible to see one end of the poop from the other. The stars had all vanished, and the silence was so
profound as to be quite oppressive, not even the sound of the pirate's sweeps now being audible; though
whether they had been laid in, or whether the vessel had increased her distance so greatly as to have passed
beyond the range of sound, I knew not, but I strongly suspected the former contingency. This profound silence
was maintained for nearly an hour, and then my hearing--rendered unusually acute no doubt by the intense
darkness that enveloped me--once more became conscious of a regular, measured, rhythmical sound, the
sound of sweeps again being plied, and, without doubt, on board the Francesca. What did it mean? Had
Mendouca, in his feverish and painful condition, grown impatient of delay and ordered the sweeps to be again
manned, after having given instructions for them to be laid in? Or, as my forebodings whispered to me, had
the absence of myself and others been already discovered, and was the brigantine returning in search of us?
For the first quarter of an hour or so after the sounds had once again broken in upon the silence this was a
question very difficult to decide; but when half-an-hour had passed the fact was indisputable that the pirates
were returning, for the sounds had become distinctly clearer and stronger than they had at first been.
What was now to be done? There was but one course for us; namely, to take every possible measure for the
defence of the ship to our last gasp, for I felt assured that, should Mendouca recover possession of her, his
fury at the trick that we had played him would be sated by nothing short of our absolute destruction. Having
quickly made up my mind upon this point, I was in the act of groping my way along the poop, with the object
of calling the men, when I thought I felt a faint stirring of the air, and, pausing for a moment, I moistened the
back of my hand and held it up, turning it this way and that until I felt a distinct sensation of coolness. Yes,
there was no doubt about it, I had felt a cat's-paw, and it seemed to be coming over our starboard quarter;
while the sound of the sweeps was away broad on our port bow. I could scarcely restrain a cheer as the hope
of a breeze thus came to encourage me at the very moment when a new and terrible danger was threatening
us. I paused for an instant and reflected; and my thoughts took somewhat this shape: "If Mendouca is
returning--and he undoubtedly is--it is because through some unfortunate combination of circumstances my
absence has already been discovered, and he has at once jumped to the correct conclusion that I have
somehow contrived to escape from the brigantine to the ship. And he knows me well enough to feel assured
that, once here, I shall not tamely allow the Indiaman to go down under my feet; or, if that should prove
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN. 122
unpreventible, that I shall at least release the prisoners and concoct with them some plan of escape, such as
taking to the boats, or constructing a raft. And he also knows that, in either case, should we succeed in
preserving our lives until we are fallen in with, or picked up, his atrocious act of piracy and murder will be
proclaimed, and every craft in the squadron will be specially ordered to keep a look-out for him and effect his
capture at all hazards. Therefore he will spare no effort to find the ship and destroy her. Now--ah, there is
another little breath of wind, I felt it distinctly that time!--should he fail to find us, what course will he
pursue? Why, he will certainly expect us to make our way northward--for Sierra Leone, most probably, the
port that we have already determined to steer for-- and he will do his best to overtake and recapture us.
Therefore our best course will obviously be to head to the southward, and thus increase the distance between
the two craft as rapidly as possible, so that they may be out of sight of each other at daybreak; and then to
proceed upon our proper course under easy sail."
This seemed to me to be a very fair and sound line of reasoning, and I determined to act upon it forthwith. I
accordingly made my way forward, routed out the men, told them there was a breeze coming, and ordered
them to brace up the yards and trim the sheets aft for a close-hauled stretch on the port tack, at the same time
cautioning them to work silently, as I had only too much reason to fear that the pirates were returning to
search for the ship. This news, confirmed as it was by the now perfectly audible sound of the sweeps, was
enough for them, and they went about the decks so silently, speaking in whispers, and carefully taking each
rope off its belaying-pin, and laying it down on deck, instead of flinging it down with clatter enough to wake
the Seven Sleepers, that I am certain no one in the cabins, even had they been awake, could possibly have
been aware of what was happening.
By the time that we had got our canvas trimmed the breeze had become quite perceptible, and the ship had
gathered steerage-way; we therefore wore her round, and presently had the ineffable satisfaction of hearing a
slight but distinct tinkling and gurgle of water under the bows.
With the springing up of this most welcome little breeze the sound of the sweeps first became by
imperceptible degrees less audible and then was lost altogether, but whether this arose from the fact that the
wind carried the sound away from us, or whether it was that they had laid in the sweeps, and were making sail
upon the brigantine, it was impossible to tell, nor did I greatly care, provided that the breeze freshened
sufficiently to carry us out of sight before daybreak, this now being my great anxiety. Maxwell assured me
that the Bangalore was a real clipper, easily beating everything that they had fallen in with, both on the
passage out and on their homeward voyage. But no ship can sail fast without a fair amount of wind, and so far
this breeze that had come to us was a mere breathing, just enough perhaps to waft us along at a speed of about
two knots, or two and a half, maybe, whereas what I wanted was at least a seven-knot breeze, that would take
us clean out of sight of our starting-point before dawn. For I knew that, if the Bangalore was a clipper, so too
was the Francesca; and if her people once caught sight of so much as the heads of our royals from their own
royal-yard, they would chase us as long as there was the slightest hope of overhauling us. And the knowledge
of this fact made me wonder whether I had not acted rather imprudently in stowing all the lighter sails, instead
of leaving them abroad to give us all the help of which they were capable. I was just inwardly debating this
point, and had arrived at the conclusion that we ought to set them again, when the atmosphere seemed
suddenly to grow more dense, and in a moment down came the rain in a regular tropical deluge, like the
bursting of a waterspout, the sails flapped to the masts, and we were becalmed again. This was horribly
vexatious, not to say disheartening; but, happily for our peace of mind, it was a state of things that did not last
long; it merely meant a shift of wind, for presently, when the shower had ceased as abruptly as it had begun,
the breeze sprang up again, this time coming out from the northward, and with gay and thankful hearts we
squared away before it, or rather, headed just far enough to the eastward of south to permit everything set to
draw properly. Moreover, the breeze gradually but steadily freshened, until in about an hour from the time
when the ship first began to move we were going seven knots at the very least.
This was so far satisfactory, especially as the sky remained overcast and the night intensely dark, rendering it
utterly impossible to see anything beyond a distance of three or four of the ship's lengths on either hand, and I
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN. 123
now had good hopes of running the brigantine out of sight before daylight. That she was still engaged in the
search for us, however, soon became evident; for about three-quarters of an hour after the springing up of the
true breeze our attention was suddenly attracted by the outburst of a brilliant glare of bluish-white light on our
port-quarter, which was nothing less than the brigantine burning port-fires, probably in an attempt to discover
our whereabouts by the reflection of the light on our sails, or possibly in the expectation of catching sight, by
means of the light, either of our boats, or a raft, or perhaps a hen-coop and grating or two floating about as
evidence of our having gone down. However, she was about five miles distant from us at that time, and
although the light of the port-fires rendered her perfectly visible to us, I had little or no fear that it would
betray our whereabouts to her people. She remained dodging about and occasionally burning port-fires for
fully another hour--by which time we had sunk her to her foreyard below the horizon, as viewed from our
deck--and then, as she discontinued her pyrotechnic display, we lost sight of her. At daybreak I sent a man
right up to the main-royal-yard, where he remained until the light was thoroughly strong, and then came down
with the report that the horizon was clear.
This was highly satisfactory, inasmuch as it confirmed my hope that if Mendouca was still prosecuting a
search for us--as I felt sure he was, he having of course failed to discover any evidence of the ship having
foundered--he was looking for us in a northerly direction, very probably cracking on in the belief that we had
gone that way and that there was still a chance of overtaking us.
At eight bells in the morning watch we brought the ship to the wind on the larboard tack, with her head about
east-north-east, and I then divided my scanty crew into two watches, with Joe Maxwell, the carpenter, as my
chief mate, and a very smart A.B., named Tom Sutcliffe, as second. This done, the watch was set, and put to
the job of straightening-up generally and pumping out the ship, this latter job being accomplished and the
pumps sucking in just under the ten minutes that Maxwell had allowed for it. It was clear, therefore, that our
hull was sound, and that in that respect, at all events, with the best--or rather the worst--intentions in the
world, the pirates had done us little or no harm.
Our most serious difficulty was the want of water, Mendouca having literally cleared the ship of every drop
she possessed, save some eight or ten gallons in the scuttle-butt, which they had either overlooked, or perhaps
had considered not worth taking. But here again it appeared as though God in His infinite mercy had taken
compassion on us; for about noon the wind died away, and I had only just time to take my meridian
observation for the latitude when the heavens clouded over, and toward the close of the afternoon we were
visited by a terrific thunderstorm accompanied by a perfect deluge of rain, during which, by loosely spreading
all the awnings fore and aft, we were enabled to catch a sufficient quantity of water to carry us without stint as
far at least as Sierra Leone.
It remained calm until about midnight, when a little breeze sprang up from the eastward which enabled us to
lay our course nicely while it fanned us along at a speed of about five knots. The next morning broke bright
and clear; and with the first of the light the look-out reported a sail broad on our weather bow. Maxwell,
fearing that it might be our old enemy, the Francesca showing up again, came down at once and called me,
stating his fears, and causing me to rush up on the poop just as I had sprung from my cot, quite regardless of
appearances, although I could scarcely believe that Mendouca, if indeed we should be so unfortunate as to fall
in with him again, would make his appearance in the eastern board. I must confess, however, that when I first
reached the deck and beheld the stranger, I experienced a slight qualm of apprehension, for the craft was
undoubtedly square-rigged, forward at least, and she was steering as straight as a hair for us, with
studding-sails set on both sides, and coming down very fast. A few minutes' work with the telescope,
however, sufficed to remove our apprehensions, so far at least as the Francesca was concerned, for as the
light grew brighter we were enabled to discern that the stranger was a brig, and as I continued working away
with the glass the vessel seemed to assume a familiar aspect, as though I had seen her before. At first I thought
that it might possibly prove to be the Spanish brig that had been anchored just ahead of us off Banana
Peninsula; but as she drew nearer I recognised with intense delight that it was none other than the dear old
Barracouta herself. "And with her appearance," thought I, "all my troubles are ended; for doubtless Captain
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN. 124
Stopford will not only lend me men enough to carry the ship to Sierra Leone, but will also escort me thither."
CHAPTER NINETEEN. 125
CHAPTER NINETEEN.
TO THE CONGO AGAIN UPON A SPECIAL MISSION.
There was very great delight manifested fore and aft when I was able to announce that it was a British
man-o'-war that was bearing down upon us; for all hands felt, like myself, that we had only to state our recent
experiences to secure her protection at least until our arrival in safer waters. There was one exception to this,
however, in the person of Simpson, who no sooner learned the true character of the strange sail, than he came
aft and told me his story; which, in brief, was to the effect that he had originally belonged to our navy, but had
deserted, out of affection for Mendouca--who had shown him great kindness--when that individual chose to
shake off his allegiance and abjure his country. And now, of course, he dreaded nothing so much as
recognition and seizure, for not only was he a deserter, but he had also been guilty of taking an active part in
more than one deed of piracy perpetrated by his chief; he therefore implored me to let him keep below out of
sight during the presence of the man-o'-war--which clearly meant to speak us-- and also to omit all mention of
or reference to him in the narrative of my own personal adventures. This I readily promised to do; for
although I was fully conscious that, in making such a promise, I was screening an individual who had most
seriously transgressed the laws of his country, I could not help feeling that he had also contributed in a very
important degree toward the saving of the Bangalore, and all on board her; and I considered that this to a very
great extent made amends for his past misdeeds, although it was quite probable that if he were arraigned for it,
his judges might not take quite as lenient a view of the case. There it was, however; but for him I might never
have succeeded in effecting my escape from the Francesca, and in that case the Bangalore and all on board
her would have gone to the bottom. I therefore felt fully justified in promising to afford him all the protection
that lay in my power.
When the brig was within a mile of us she hoisted British colours, and fired a gun for us to heave-to, which
we of course at once did, displaying our ensign at the mizen-peak at the same time. The ladies and gentlemen
in the cuddy, learning from the stewards what was happening, at once turned out to do honour to the occasion,
so that when, a few minutes later, the Barracouta, with all her studding-sails collapsing and coming in
together, rounded-to within biscuit-toss of our weather quarter, our poop must have presented quite an
animated appearance.
As the beautiful craft swept gracefully yet with a rush up into the wind, a figure that I recognised with delight
as that of Young, our beloved first luff, sprang on to the hammock-rail with a speaking-trumpet in his hand.
The next moment he had raised it to his lips, and was hailing--
"Ho, the ship ahoy! What ship is that?"
"The Bangalore, eighty-two days out from Calcutta, bound to London; and plundered two days ago by a
pirate. I hope you are none the worse for your boat adventure, Mr Young, in the attack upon that same pirate
last week? I have news and to spare for you, so shall I lower a boat, or will you? If you can conveniently do so
it will perhaps be better, for I am rather short-handed," I replied.
I saw Young staring at me with all his eyes; evidently he had not as yet recognised me in the longshore rig
with which I had been fitted by the kindness of one of the cuddy passengers.
He raised the trumpet to his lips, and began--
"Who in the name of ---?" when I saw little Freddy Pierrepoint scramble up alongside him excitedly and
utterly regardless of etiquette, and say something eagerly. Young lowered the trumpet, stared hard at me,
raised it again, and roared through it--
"Can it be possible that you are Dugdale--the Harry Dugdale that we have all been mourning as lost?"
CHAPTER NINETEEN. 126
"Ay, ay, Mr Young, it is myself, sure enough, alive and well, I am thankful to say; and more glad than I can
express to see the dear old Barracouta again!"
As I uttered these words the watch on deck gave a ringing cheer, which thrilled me to the heart, for it told me
better than words how sincerely attached to me the honest fellows were, and how delighted to see me again;
and although the outburst was by no means in accordance with strict discipline, Young--thoroughly good
fellow that he was--never checked them, but, as their voices died away, simply waved his trumpet, and
shouted, "I will come on board you!" and disappeared behind the brig's high bulwarks.
A short pause now ensued, during which I suspected that the first luff was conferring with Captain Stopford,
the Barracouta's people gazing curiously at us meanwhile through the brig's open ports; and then the sound of
the boatswain's pipe came floating to us from the brig across the tumbling waters, and we heard his gruff
voice bellowing--"Gigs away!"
The call was followed by a slight, muffled scurrying of feet, and the gig's crew were seen leaping, light as
figures of india-rubber, into the elegantly-moulded craft that hung at the brig's davits, the falls were eased
away, and in a moment the boat, light as a bubble, was dancing upon the sparkling blue tumble at the brig's
lee gangway. Then the first lieutenant and Freddy Pierrepoint appeared at the head of the side-ladder, the
latter descending first and the lieutenant instantly following, the boat's bow was borne off from the ship's side,
the oars dropped with a clean cut into the water, the men bent their backs as they gave way, and the dancing
craft came bounding over the long surges towards us.
Meanwhile, on board the Bangalore I had caused the side-ladder to be shipped and the ropes rove in readiness
for the lieutenant's arrival; and in a few minutes he and Freddy were standing on the Indiaman's broad deck
and greeting me with a hand grip the heartiness of which there was no mistaking.
I told my story as briefly as possible, and at its conclusion Young said--
"Well, we must of course let you have a few men; but it will be a few only that we shall be able to spare, for I
am sorry to say that our loss was terribly heavy in our boat attack upon your friend Mendouca, no less than
eight killed and twenty-three wounded, only four of the latter having as yet been able to return to duty. You
must, however, lay your case before Captain Stopford--who, by the way, hopes you will take breakfast with
him--and I dare say that when he learns how very short-handed you are, he will strain a point to spare you a
dozen men to take the ship to Sierra Leone. And now, suppose you introduce us to your passengers, who,
judging from what I have been able to see of them from here, appear to be a very pleasant lot of people."
Upon this hint I led the way to the poop, where by this time nearly the entire cuddy party had assembled, and
introduced my companions in due form, and in a few minutes Young and Freddy were each surrounded by a
large patty, Master Freddy's, I noticed, being mainly composed of the younger members of the gentler sex,
who petted and made much of the juvenile warrior, to that young gentleman's entire content.
In due time I proceeded on board my old ship; and on reaching the deck was fully repaid for all that I had
gone through by the heartiness of the greeting that I received from my shipmates, one and all of whom seemed
sincerely delighted at finding that I was still in the land of the living. For, as fate would have it, the
Barracouta had fallen in with the Felicidad with the French schooner Mouette in company as a prize--the
latter vessel having pursued the Felicidad out of the creek, only to find that she had caught a Tartar, which
captured her after a short but determined struggle--and from her the Barracouta's people had learned all
particulars of our somewhat disastrous enterprise, including the news that I was missing, and was believed to
have been killed in the unsuccessful attack upon the schooner in the creek.
Captain Stopford was kindness itself in his reception of me, commiserating with me upon all the hardships of
my late adventure, and heartily congratulating me upon my escape from the Francesca, and the saving of the
CHAPTER NINETEEN. 127
Indiaman, the latter of which, he assured me, he would take care to report in the proper quarter in such a way
as should further my advancement in the service. With regard to supplying me with men, he promised to do
the best that he could; and at Young's suggestion--he being one of the rather large party that the captain had
invited to meet me at breakfast--it was arranged that I should have a dozen; and as he fully agreed with me
that there was just a chance that the Francesca, might be at no great distance to the northward, still actively
pursuing her search for us, it was further arranged that I should crowd sail for Sierra Leone, in the hope of
turning the tables upon Mendouca by overtaking him, in which case we were to do our best to detain him until
the arrival of the Barracouta upon the scene, it being the captain's plan to follow us at a distance of some
fifteen or twenty miles. As an incentive to expedition--and no doubt, incidentally, to the promotion of the
capture of the Francesca--the captain informed me that if we managed to accomplish a quick run to Sierra
Leone, I should probably be in time to rejoin the Felicidad, which schooner was then at that port, refitting
after her engagement with the Mouette. I was very grieved to learn that poor Ryan, although not nearly so
severely wounded as I had believed, was lying in the hospital at Sierra Leone, prostrate with a bad attack of
fever, from which, when the Barracouta left, it was greatly feared that he would not recover.
As soon as breakfast was over the crew were mustered, and Young picked out for me twelve good, stout men,
who were ordered to pass their bags down into the boat and go on board the Bangalore with me; and, this
most welcome addition to our crew having been received, I made sail, packing upon the good ship every rag
that would draw, the Barracouta remaining hove-to until we had placed a sufficient distance between her and
ourselves. But although we carried on day and night--the Indiaman proving such a flyer that the Barracouta's
people had their hands full to keep us in sight--nothing more was seen of the Francesca, and we were at
length driven to the conclusion that, failing to find us, Mendouca had resumed his voyage at a much earlier
period than we had anticipated. We reached Sierra Leone on the afternoon of the third day after falling in with
the Barracouta; and there I left the Indiaman, which, after a detention of four days, sailed for England with a
full complement, made up of the officers and men of a large barque that had been wrecked upon the coast
only a week or two before, supplemented by a few out of the many white seamen who had been left behind in
hospital when their ships were ready to sail for home, and who, contrary to the general rule, had recovered
from, instead of succumbing to, the deadly malaria of the coast.
As for me, I found that I had arrived most opportunely, so far as the Felicidad was concerned, for the repairs
to that small hooker were completed, as it happened, on the very day of our arrival; and Captain Stopford very
generously offered me the command of her, asserting that my conduct with regard to the Indiaman had
conclusively demonstrated my entire fitness for the post, and that if I chose to accept it he should have no
anxiety whatever, either on the score of my courage or my discretion. Ryan, poor fellow, was, contrary to
expectation, still alive, and hopes were now entertained that he might ultimately recover; but he was still so
weak that when I went to the hospital to see him, he was so overcome with emotion at the sight of
me--although he had been carefully prepared for the meeting--that he burst into tears and was seized with a fit
of hysterical sobbing so violent that I had to retire again at once without exchanging a word with him; and, to
my very deep regret, I had not another opportunity to see him. I grieve to say that although, when I paid him
that unfortunate visit, he appeared to be making slow but sure progress toward recovery, he suffered a relapse
a few days afterwards, from which he never rallied; and his ashes now repose, with those of many another
gallant spirit, in the spot that is known throughout the world as "The White Man's Grave."
The repairs to the Felicidad being completed, her final preparations for sea were vigorously pushed forward,
and on the third day after our arrival, having first visited the Bangalore and bade farewell to her
passengers--each and every one of whom insisted that he (or she) owed his (or her) life to me, and that
henceforward I must regard myself as a dearly cherished friend--I joined the little hooker as her commander,
and sailed the same afternoon for the Congo; my especial mission being to test the truth, or otherwise, of
Mendouca's statement respecting the fate of the Sapphire's boats' crews, and--in the event of its being true--to
attempt the rescue of any of the unfortunate people who might perchance be still alive.
We made the high land to the northward of the river mouth about midnight, after a rather long and uneventful
CHAPTER NINETEEN. 128
passage; and, the wind being light, and the river current strong, even at a considerable distance from the
entrance, we then reached in toward the land, and anchored in fourteen fathoms, at about as many miles from
the shore, where we remained, rolling and tumbling about on the heavy swell, until the sea-breeze set in, about
eight o'clock the next morning. We then hove up our mud-hook, and ran in, anchoring in Banana Creek,
opposite Lobo's factory, about six bells in the forenoon. There was only one other vessel in the creek at the
time, a Portuguese brig; and her build and general appearance so unmistakably proclaimed her honest, that I
never gave her a second thought. Besides, I had a special mission to accomplish--namely, the discovery and
deliverance, if possible, of between thirty and forty of my own countrymen, languishing in a bitter captivity,
and in daily, if not hourly, peril of death by torture as cruel and protracted as the fiendish malignity of
merciless savages can possibly devise.
Now, I was as well equipped for such an expedition as I could possibly wish, save in one particular. I had a
smart, light-draught vessel, capable of "going anywhere where a duck can swim," as we say at sea; we were
well armed, had plenty of ammunition, mustered a crew of twenty-six prime seamen, the pick of the
Barracouta's crew--men who would go anywhere, and face anything--we carried an ample supply of blankets,
beads, brass wire, old muskets, and tawdry finery of various descriptions, priceless in the eyes of savages, for
the purpose of peaceable ransom, if such could be accomplished; but we lacked an interpreter, a man
acquainted with the barbaric language of the up-river natives, through whom we should be able to
communicate with them and carry on the necessary negotiations. And such a man it was now my first duty
and anxiety to secure. I had given this matter a great deal of careful consideration during our passage, and had
at length determined upon the course of action that seemed to promise the most successful results; and it was
in accordance with this determination that I anchored in Banana Creek instead of proceeding forthwith up the
river to the spot named by Mendouca as the scene of the captivity of the Sapphire's boats' crews.
I entered the river without any disguise of any sort, showing British colours and the man-o'-war's pennant;
and, as I had expected, our old friend Lobo soon came alongside in his gig, with his usual stereotyped smiles
and bows, and offers to supply us with anything and everything that we might happen to want. I took care to
be below when he boarded us; and, in accordance with previous arrangements, Gowland, who met the fellow
upon his arrival, proposed that he should go down into the cabin and see me personally upon the business of
his visit. He at once assented, willingly, Gowland following him down, and when the two had entered, the
sentry at the cabin-door closed it after them.
"Ah, good-morning, sar," exclaimed Lobo to me, as he entered. "Glad to see you back in the river, sar! I hope
dat de capitan and officers of de beautiful Barracouta are all well? Ah, gentlemen, dat was a ver' fine bit of
vork, dat attack of yours upon Chango Creek; ver' fine and ver' successful. I 'ave alvays been proud of my
share in dat exploit. But, gentlemen, you mus' please never so much as vhisper dat I, Joaquin Miguel Lobo,
had anything to do vid it. My vord, if you did, de rascal slavers vould cut my t'roat for me, and de man-o'-war
gentlemen vould lose a fait'ful ally."
"No doubt, Senor Lobo," agreed I genially. "But, never fear, you are perfectly safe from betrayal to the
slavers, so far as we are concerned; you shall find us as faithful to you as you have been to us. But sit down,
man, and let me offer you a glass of wine."
With many bows and wreathed smiles, and deprecating elevations of the shoulders, Lobo took the seat to
which I pointed him, and I touched a bell.
"Steward, put the wine and some glasses on the table, will you; and also a box of cigars that you will find on
the shelf in my cabin."
The wine and cigars were brought; we helped ourselves; and I began--
"I am very much obliged to you for coming aboard, Senor Lobo, for you are the very man that I most desired
CHAPTER NINETEEN. 129
to see. I require some assistance of a rather peculiar kind, and I believe that you, above all others, are the one
who can best help me to it."
Lobo bowed and smiled, sipped his wine, and assured us that he was in all things our very obedient, humble
servant, and that nothing pleased him so much as to be of assistance to the man-o'-war gentlemen, who
honoured the river by paying it an occasional visit. At the same time-- he pointed out--his friendly relations
with those same man-o'-war gentlemen, and the services that he had been so glad to render them from time to
time were, if not well known, at least very strongly suspected by the slavers and slave-dealing fraternity
generally who used the Congo for their nefarious purposes; and in incurring this suspicion he also incurred a
very serious risk, both to property and life, for which he considered that he was justly entitled to be
remunerated on a generous scale.
"Most assuredly," I agreed. "And I may tell you at once, Senor Lobo, that I am prepared to reward you very
munificently for the efficient and faithful performance of the service that I require of you; I am prepared, in
fact, to offer you no less a reward than your life. Ah, you turn pale, I see; and well you may when I inform you
that your true character is by this time known to probably every British commander on the coast; you are
known as a bare-faced traitor to the cause that you have pretended so zealously to serve, and I don't mind
mentioning to you, in confidence, that, if this ship had happened to be the Barracouta instead of the Felicidad
you would now in all probability have been dangling from one of that ship's yard-arms, as a wholesome
warning and example to all betrayers--Nay, keep your seat, man; there is a sentry outside the door, and you
are a prisoner beyond all possibility of escape. But you have no cause for fear on that account, provided that
you can prevail upon yourself to act honestly for once. I require a certain service from you, and I promise you
that if you render that service faithfully I will set you free at the termination of the adventure, with full liberty
to seek safety by flight elsewhere. But until the adventure of which I speak is brought to a favourable
conclusion, you are my prisoner; and I give you my word of honour that upon the first attempt to escape
which you may be ill-advised enough to make, I will put you in irons and chain you to the deck. If, therefore,
you are wise, you will submit to your present predicament with a good grace, rather than tempt a worse one.
And now, tell me everything you know with regard to the fate of the crews of the Sapphire's boats."
"The Sapphire's boats?" ejaculated the now thoroughly terrified wretch. "I swear to Gad, sar, dat I had not'ing
to do vid dat! I know not'ing about dem; not'ing whatever! But I can tell you de name of de man who had; ay,
and I can put him into your power, if you like; he is a villain, and it would be only doing a good action to
betray him to justice. I vill do it, too, if you vill release me at vonce; I vill tell you all about him, vhere he is to
be found vhen he visits de river, de name of his cheep, and--and--all dat is necessairey for you to know."
"Yes; no doubt," I answered. "But you will have to purchase your release in some other way, senor;
unfortunately for you we know all about Don Fernando de Mendouca, captain of the brigantine Francesca and
have every confidence in our ability to get hold of him without your assistance. And I may tell you that, up to
the present, no charge has been made against you in connection with the disappearance of the Sapphire's
boats; you have therefore nothing to fear from us just now on that score. Now, will you tell us what you know
about those unfortunate missing men?"
"Yes; yes, I vill, gentlemen; I vill tell you all dat I know; but it is not much," answered Lobo, with evident
relief. "I only know dat de scoundrel Mendouca managed to trap de two boats in some vay--how, I know
not--and dat he gave dem de choice of being massacred, dere and den, or of surrendering and having dheir
lives spared. And vhen dhey had surrendered he exchanged dhem to Matadi for slaves--t'ree slaves for every
white man--so dat Matadi might have plenty of victims--white victims dhey consider very good--for de
annual--de annual--what you call it, eh? festa."
"Festival, I suppose you mean," said I, with an involuntary shudder. "And, pray, Senor Lobo, do you happen
to know the date of this festival?"
CHAPTER NINETEEN. 130
"No, I cannot say dat I do; but I t'ink about one week from now," was the answer.
"Then, thank God, we are still in time!" I ejaculated. "Now, Senor Lobo, I presume you are acquainted with
this chief, Matadi, are you not? You have probably had dealings with him, eh? Do not be afraid to give a
truthful answer, because by so doing you cannot betray anything about yourself that we do not know already.
We are fully aware, for instance, that you are a slave-dealer--among other things--and I have very little doubt
that, if I chose to land a party, we should find a choice lot of negroes in that barracoon of yours in the bush,
yonder--you look surprised, but, you see, I know all about you; so your best plan will be to answer my
questions truthfully and unreservedly. Now, as to this Matadi, who is he, and what is he?"
"Sair," said Lobo, in great perturbation, "I see dat you know all about me, so I will be perfectly open and frank
wid you. I do know Matadi. He is a very powerful chief, de head of a tribe numbering quite t'ree t'ousand
warriors; and his chief town is far up de river--four, five days' journey in a canoe. It lies on de sout' bank of de
river 'bout eight miles below de first--what you call?--where de water runs very furious over de rocks, boiling
like--like de water in a pot."
"Ah, rapids, you mean, I suppose?" suggested I.
"Yes, yes; rapids; dat is de word," agreed Lobo. "His town is near de first rapids; and he is very powerful,
very dangerous, very fierce. What do you want wid him, senor?"
"I want those white men that he holds in captivity; and I mean to have them, by fair means or foul!" said I. "I
will buy them of him, if he is willing to part with them in that way; and if not, I intend to take them from him
by force, for have them I must and will And I require your assistance in this matter, senor, as an interpreter,
through whom I can treat with the fellow and carry on the necessary negotiations; and if those negotiations are
successful, you will be released on our return here, and allowed thirty days to complete your arrangements for
removal elsewhere. But if we fail you will be retained as a prisoner, and taken to Sierra Leone, to be dealt
with as your past treacheries deserve. Now, do you quite understand the position?"
"Yes, senor, I understand," answered Lobo, in great distress. "But, oh, gentlemen, I beg, I pray you, do not
take me away from my business; it will all go wrong widout me, and I shall lose hundreds, t'ousands of
dollars, all my property will be gone before I can get back! I shall be ruin'!"
"I am sorry to hear that," I remarked; "but even supposing that matters go as badly with you as you seem to
fear, that will be better than hanging, will it not? And, you see, I must have somebody with me, as interpreter,
whose interest it will be that I shall be successful in my mission; and I know of no one whose interests can be
made more completely identical with my own than yourself, senor. Therefore I shall take you with me,
regardless of consequences. But if you have any assistants ashore to whom you would like to send a very brief
message to the effect that you are taking a little business-trip up the river with me for a few days, and that they
must do the best they can for you during your absence, I have no objection to your sending it. Otherwise, I
will dismiss your boat; for we must not miss this fine sea-breeze, which ought to take us a good many miles
up-stream before it dies away."
"Well, gentlemen, if you are quite determined, I must submit," answered Lobo, with a very disconsolate air.
"But I protest against being thus carried off against my will; I protest against it as a--an--a--what do you call
him?--yes, an outrage--an outrage, gentlemen; and the Portuguese Government will inquire into the matter."
"All right," said I cheerfully; "there can be no objection to that, so far as we are concerned. And now that we
have arranged this little matter, shall I dismiss your boat?"
"No, no; not yet, not yet," hastily answered Lobo. "Give me one littl' piece of paper, if you please, and I will
write a few words to Diego, my manager, telling him what to do in my absence."
CHAPTER NINETEEN. 131
"No," said I determinedly, "I can permit no written messages; a verbal one, if you like, but nothing more."
"Ver' well," answered Lobo resignedly. "Then I will go up and speak to my boatmen."
"No need for that," said I. "Tell us which of your men you wish to see, and I will send for him to come here."
Poor Lobo made a gesture of impatience, but saw that I had quite determined to afford him no shadow of an
opportunity to make any secret communication whatever; so he submitted to the inevitable, and sent for one of
his men, to whom he delivered such a message as I suggested, adding a request that a small supply of clothing
might be sent off to him at once. This ended the matter, so far as the obtaining of an efficient interpreter was
concerned; the clothes were brought off; and shortly after noon we weighed and, with a brisk breeze, stood out
of the creek on our way up the river.
For the first twelve miles or so our course was the same as that which we had followed in our memorable
expedition to attack Chango Creek; the river being, up to that point, about three miles wide, with a fine deep
channel averaging perhaps a quarter of that width up as far as abreast the southern extremity of Monpanga
island, where this deep channel terminates, and the average depth of the entire stream dwindles to about six
fathoms for the next fourteen miles, the channel at the same time narrowing down to a width varying from
about two miles to less than half-a-mile in some parts, notably at the spot where it begins to thread its devious
way among the islands that cumber the stream for a length of fully thirty miles, at a distance of about
twenty-eight miles from Shark Point.
By carrying a press of sail, and hugging the northern bank, keeping as close to the shore as our little draught
of water would permit, thus to a great extent cheating the current, we contrived to get as far as the spot where
the above-mentioned chain of islands commences; and there, the wind failing us toward sunset, we came to an
anchor close to the southern shore, on a sand-bank, in three fathoms, under the lee of a large island that
sheltered us from the rush of the main current; and there we remained all night, a strict anchor-watch of course
being kept not only to see that the schooner did not drive from her berth, but also to guard against possible
attack on the part of the natives. In this spot, to my inexpressible chagrin, we were compelled to spend the
following two days, the wind blowing down the river, when it blew at all, a little variety being infused into the
weather by the outburst of a most terrific thunderstorm which brought with it a perfect hurricane of wind and
a deluge of rain; after which we again got a fair wind and were able to pursue our way for a time, getting
ashore occasionally upon unsuspected sand-banks, but always contriving to heave off again, undamaged,
thanks to the fact that we were proceeding up-stream against the current instead of down-stream with it.
And--not to dwell unduly upon incidents that were exciting enough to us, although the recital of them would
prove of but little interest to the reader--in this way we contrived to creep up the river the hundred and twelve
miles or so that were necessary to bring us to Matadi's town--having passed, and with some difficulty avoided,
two whirlpools on the way, reaching our destination about two bells in the afternoon watch on the fifth day
after leaving Banana Creek.
CHAPTER TWENTY. 132
CHAPTER TWENTY.
SUCCESS. THE FATE OF THE PIRATE SLAVER.
Matadi's "town" was situate, as Lobo had informed us, on the south bank of the stream, on the sloping side of
a hill that rose rather steeply from the water's edge; the scenery of this part of the river being totally different
from that of the mouth; the change occurring gradually, but becoming quite decided about the point where the
chain of islands is left behind on the traveller's upward way. For whereas on the lower reaches of the
Congo--that is to say, for the first forty miles or so from its mouth--the banks of the river are low and flat, and
to a great extent mangrove-lined, beyond this point their tendency is to become higher and steeper, in some
places, indeed, quite precipitous, until where we now were the ground sloped up from the river margin to a
height of fully four hundred feet, for the most part densely covered with bush interspersed here and there with
masses of noble forest trees.
Matadi's town was situate, as I have said, upon the sloping hillside that constituted the south bank of the river,
and consisted of some four or five hundred buildings arranged with tolerable regularity on either side of two
broad streets or roads that crossed each other at right angles, their point of intersection being a spacious
square, in the centre of which stood a circular structure with a high-peaked, pointed roof of thatch, that Lobo
informed me was the fetish-house. I was greatly surprised at the neatness and skill displayed in the
construction of the buildings in this important town; for while they were insignificant in size, as compared
with the dwellings of a civilised race, being about the size of a small two-roomed cottage, such as may be
found in almost any rural district in England, they were very considerably larger and more carefully and
substantially-built than the huts that we had noticed in King Plenty's town, when we made our disastrous
attack upon Mendouca and his consorts. There was even a certain attempt at ornamentation discernible in the
larger structures, many of which had what I believe is called in England a barge-board, elaborately carved,
under the projecting eaves of the roof that formed the verandah, the wooden posts that supported those same
projecting eaves being also boldly sculptured. These particulars I noted through my telescope on rounding the
bend of the river just beyond the town; and I could not help feeling that a community of savages intellectual
enough to find pleasure in the adornment of their houses would be likely to prove very difficult to deal with
unless I could contrive to make their inclination coincide with my own wishes.
Our appearance--the Felicidad being probably the first ship that had ever penetrated so far up the
river--created a profound sensation in the town, the inhabitants rushing in and out of their dwellings and about
the streets for all the world like an alarmed colony of ants, and finally congregating along the margin of the
river to the extent of fully one thousand, most of them being men, every one of whom, so far as I could make
out, was armed; the weapons being spears, bows and arrows, and clubs with heavy knobs on the end. They
seemed to be a fine, powerful race, evidently accustomed to warfare, if one might judge by the readiness with
which, at the command of an immensely stout and powerful man--whom Lobo declared to be none other than
Matadi himself-- they formed themselves up into compact and orderly squadrons, and I thought, ruefully, that
if it became necessary to resort to forcible measures for the release of our countrymen, we were likely to have
a pretty bad time.
To attempt to open communications with a thousand armed savages, whose evident purpose in mustering on
the river bank immediately in front of their town was to resolutely oppose any attempt at landing on our part,
was a rather delicate operation; still, it had to be done, and it was worse than useless to exhibit any sign of
trepidation or hesitation. I therefore ordered the gig to be lowered, and with four men, fully armed, at the oars,
and Lobo and myself in the stern-sheets, pushed off for the shore. This bold action on our part created a
profound sensation upon the savages massed upon the shore, the boat being no sooner under way than they
raised their spears above their heads, shook them furiously until the blades clashed upon each other with the
sound of a falling torrent of water, and emitted a blood-curdling yell that almost drove poor Lobo out of his
senses. We had, however--at Lobo's suggestion-- provided ourselves with palm branches, cut on the night
before at our previous anchorage, and now, seizing one of these, the Portuguese scrambled forward into the
CHAPTER TWENTY. 133
eyes of the boat and stood there, waving the branch violently and pointing it toward the savages. This
demonstration had the effect of quelling the tumult, the blacks subsiding into quietude almost instantly, at the
command of Matadi; but it was evident that they had no intention of permitting us to land, for at a second
command from the chief they advanced, as steadily as a band of civilised troops, across the short intervening
space of greensward between themselves and the water's edge, at which they halted, forming up three deep in
a long, compact line along the river margin.
We continued to pull shoreward until we were within easy speaking distance; when the boat's bows were
turned up-stream, and while the men continued to paddle gently ahead, using just sufficient strength to enable
the boat to stem the current and maintain her position abreast the centre of the line of savages, Lobo opened
the palaver by informing Matadi that we were there by command of the Great White Queen to procure the
release of the white men held by him as prisoners, and that we were fully prepared to pay a handsome ransom
for them; it was only for Matadi to name his price, and it should be cheerfully paid.
To this the chief replied by inquiring what white men we referred to; he knew nothing about white men, and
indeed had never seen any except ourselves. And he strongly advised us to lose no time in making our way
back down the river again, as his soldiers were very angry at our presumption in invading his territory, and he
could not answer for it that he would be able to restrain them should they take into their heads to actively
resent our intrusion by attacking the ship.
I knew from this reply, which Lobo duly translated to me, that our friend Matadi was an adept in the art--so
peculiarly characteristic of the African savage--of lying, and must be dealt with accordingly. So I said to
Lobo--
"Tell him that he is mistaken. Say that the circumstance was doubtless of so trivial a character as to escape the
recollection of a great chief like Matadi; but that, nevertheless, we know it to be a fact that about six moons
ago some thirty or forty white men were sold to him by one Mendouca, a slave-buyer; and that it is those men
we are seeking, our instructions being that we are not to return without them, even should we be obliged to
destroy Matadi's town with our thunder and lightning in the process of securing them."
My scarcely-veiled threat to destroy his town was received by Matadi with scornful laughter, the savage
declaring in set terms that he did not believe in the power of the white men to produce either lightning or
thunder; and as to our accomplishing the threatened destruction without those means--why, there were a few
of his warriors present who would have a word to say upon that matter. Touching the question of the white
men said to have been sold to him, Matadi admitted that he now thought he remembered some transaction of
the kind, but had not the remotest idea of what had become of them; he would make inquiries, however, and if
we would go away, and return again about the same time next moon he would perhaps be able to give us some
news of them. But before troubling himself to make any such inquiries he must be propitiated with a present;
and he would also like to know what price we were prepared to pay for each white man, should any be found.
"Tell him," said I, "that this is a case of `no white man, no present'; but that if the white men are found, I will
not only buy them of him at so much per head, but also make him a handsome present into the bargain. Say
that the goods to be paid as ransom are aboard the schooner, and that they consist of guns, beads, brass wire,
beautiful printed calicoes, suitable for the adornment of any African king's wives; handsome red coats with
resplendent brass buttons and gorgeous worsted epaulettes, admirably calculated to set off Matadi's own
kingly figure; and superb blankets, red, blue, green--in fact, all the colours of the rainbow. If he and two or
three of his chiefs would like to come aboard and see these magnificent articles, I shall be very pleased to
exhibit them."
This speech being translated by Lobo, there ensued a long palaver, the result of which was that Matadi
declined to go on board the schooner, but had no objection to come off alongside and inspect them from a
distance, provided that we would first return and hoist up our own boat. The fact evidently was that the fellow,
CHAPTER TWENTY. 134
treacherous himself, suspected everybody else of being the same, and was clearly indisposed to put himself in
our power, while he was at the same time devoured with curiosity to see the articles of which I had given such
a glowing description. Of course, as I wished above all things to excite his cupidity to the point of determining
to possess the goods, even at the cost of having to give up the white men, I readily agreed to his proposal; and
at once returned to the schooner and ordered the boat to be hoisted to the davits.
It was evident that my endeavour to excite Matadi's curiosity had been completely successful; for no sooner
was the gig out of the water than a large canoe was launched, into which Matadi and three or four other
negroes--presumably subordinate chiefs--scrambled, when she was at once shoved off and, paddled by twenty
natives, brought to within about twenty yards of the schooner, that being considered, I suppose, about the
shortest distance within which it would be safe to approach us. I tried to persuade them to come a little nearer,
if not actually on board, but Matadi resolutely refused; and as he seemed half inclined to go back again
without even waiting to see what I had to show him, I ordered the steward to open the boxes at once, and
forthwith proceeded to exhibit my coils of wire, strings of beads, bandana handkerchiefs, rolls of
gaudily-coloured prints, old military uniforms, and muskets, and other odds and ends, the exhibition proving
so attractive that before its conclusion the canoe had been gradually sheered nearer and nearer to the schooner
until she was brought fairly alongside, and they had even consented to accept a rope's-end to hang on by.
Matadi badly wanted us to pass some of the articles down over the side that he might examine them still more
minutely, but I would not permit this, thinking it best to still leave some of his curiosity unsatisfied, and at
length, after they had been alongside nearly an hour and a half, and had asked for a second and even a third
sight of most of the goods, they reluctantly retired, their eyes glistening with cupidity, Matadi promising to
institute an immediate inquiry as to the whereabouts of the white men, and to let me know the result as soon
as possible.
I was very well satisfied with this interview, for I felt convinced that I had so powerfully excited the
covetousness of the savages that they would determine to possess the goods that I had shown them at any cost.
And so, as it turned out, I had, although, consequent upon my omission to take into consideration the natural
treachery of the savage character, I was wholly mistaken as to the form in which that determination would
manifest itself.
It was clear that Matadi still entertained a wholesome, whole-souled distrust of us; for when he landed the
troops of warriors were still left drawn up along the river bank, with the evident intention of preventing any
attempt on our part to go ashore and satisfy our curiosity by an inspection of his town; we therefore accepted
the palpable hint thus conveyed, and stuck to the ship, which, I need scarcely say, had been cleared for action
and held ready for any emergency from the moment of our arrival abreast the town.
It was by this time growing late in the afternoon, and as I was anxious to obtain possession of my unfortunate
countrymen and leave Matadi's rather dangerous neighbourhood before nightfall, we watched the proceedings
in the town narrowly and with a great deal of interest. But although we were enabled with the aid of our
telescopes to follow Matadi and his little coterie of chiefs to a large building abutting on the square at the
intersection of the cross streets, and which we took to be the "palace," we were unable to detect anything of an
unusual character in the appearance or movements of the people until close upon sunset, when we observed a
small canoe coming off to the schooner--a craft propelled by four paddlers, with a single individual sitting in
the stern. This person we presently recognised as one of the chiefs who had accompanied Matadi alongside
earlier in the day; and he brought a message to the effect that the king had ascertained that the white men
about whom we had inquired were all safe in a village a day's march distant, and that Matadi would send for
them on the morrow, unless we were prepared to make him a present of a musket, five strings of beads, a
bandana handkerchief, and a roll of printed calico, in which case he would so far discommode himself as to
send off a messenger at once. This was of course very annoying, and I did not at all like the idea of giving
these savages anything without a tangible return for it; still, after considering the matter a little, I arrived at the
conclusion that to expedite affairs by twelve hours was quite worth the price asked, and the articles were
accordingly handed over, not without grave misgivings as to the wisdom of the proceeding. Soon after this it
CHAPTER TWENTY. 135
fell dark, the stars sparkled out one after another, lighting up the scene with their soft effulgence, the noises in
the town became hushed, save for the occasional barking of a dog here and there, and a deep, solemn hush fell
upon us, in which the deep, hoarse, tumbling roar of a whirl-pool at no great distance, and the gurgle and rush
of the turbid river past the schooner's hull became almost startlingly audible. But as long as we were able to
see them the lines of native warriors still stood, silent and motionless, guarding the whole river front of the
town. As a matter of precaution, I now ordered the boarding nettings to be triced up all round the ship, the
guns to be loaded with grape and canister, the small arms to be prepared for immediate service, a double
anchor-watch to be kept, and the men to hold themselves ready for any emergency, after the bustle of which
preparations the schooner subsided again into silence and darkness, the men for the most part "pricking for a
soft plank" on deck, and coiling themselves away thereon in preference to seeking repose in the stifling
forecastle. As for Gowland and myself, we paced the deck contemplatively together until about ten o'clock,
discussing the chances of getting away on the morrow, and then, everything seeming perfectly quiet and
peaceful, we had our mattresses brought on deck, and stretched ourselves out thereon in the small clear space
between the companion and the wheel.
I had been asleep about two hours, when I was awakened by a light touch, and, starting up, found that it was
one of the anchor-watch, who was saying--
"Better go below, sir, I think, because it looks as though it was goin' to rain. And Bill and me, sir, we thinks as
you ought to know that we fancies we've heard the dip o' paddles occasionally round about the ship within the
last ten minutes."
"The dip of paddles, eh?" exclaimed I, in a whisper. "Where away, Roberts?"
"Well, first here and then there, sir," answered the man, in an equally low and cautious tone of voice; "both
ahead and astarn of us; sometimes on one side, and then on t'other. But we ain't by no means certain about it;
that there whirl-pool away off on our port-quarter a little ways down-stream is makin' such a row that perhaps
we're mistaken, and have took the splash of the water in it for the sound of paddles. And it's so dark that there
ain't a thing to be seen."
It was as the man had said. It was evident that a heavy thunderstorm was about to break over us, for the
heavens had become black with clouds, and the darkness was so profound that it was impossible to see from
one side of the deck to the other. I scrambled to my naked feet and went first to the taffrail, then along the port
side of the deck forward, returning aft along the starboard side of the deck, listening intently, and I certainly
fancied that once or twice I detected a faint sound like that of a paddle stroke, but I could not be certain; and
as to seeing anything, that was utterly out of the question.
"Find Warren, and tell him to bring a port-fire on deck, and light it," said I. "It can do no harm to take a look
round, just to satisfy ourselves; and it is never safe to trust these savages too much. Look alive, Roberts;
moments may be precious if it be as you suspect."
"Ay, ay, sir," answered the man, as he trundled away forward to find the gunner. And meanwhile, as it was
evident that a heavy downpour was imminent, I roused up Gowland, and we carried our mattresses below, I
repeating to him, as we went, what Roberts had told me.
By the time that we got back on deck again the gunner was aft, waiting for us, with the port-fire all ready in
his hand, and I instructed him to go aloft as far as the fore-cross-trees and light it there. A few seconds
elapsed, and then, with startling distinctness, came down to us the cry--
"All ready, sir, with the port-fire!"
"Then light it at once," answered I, "and we will see what there is to be seen."
CHAPTER TWENTY. 136
The livid, blue-white glare of the port-fire almost instantly burst forth, shedding its unearthly radiance far
across the glassy, swirling surface of the rushing stream, and by its light we saw a startling sight indeed, the
schooner being surrounded by a flotilla of at least twenty large canoes, each manned by from thirty to forty
dusky warriors, fully armed with spears, bows, and war-clubs. They were about a cable's length from us, and
had evidently taken up their positions with the utmost care, so that they might close in upon and reach us
simultaneously, as they were now doing. As the brilliant light of the port-fire blazed forth, a shout of
astonishment, not very far removed from dismay, burst from the occupants of the canoes, and a momentary
tendency to sheer off precipitately became apparent; but this was instantly checked by a loud and authoritative
call from the largest canoe--the voice sounding very much like that of Matadi himself--and with an answering
yell the savages at once turned the bows of their canoes toward the schooner and began to paddle for dear life.
"Call all hands," shouted I, "and pipe to quarters. Pass the word that the men are not to wait to dress. Another
minute and the savages will be upon us!"
The men needed no second order; they had all been sleeping on deck, and had awakened at the gunner's call
from aloft, and the glare of the port-fire striking through their closed eyelids, and before the words were well
out of my lips they were standing to their guns and awaiting my next order.
"Depress the muzzles of your guns as much as you can, and give the treacherous rascals their contents as you
bring them to bear," cried I. "We shall only have time for one round, and if that does not stop them we shall be
obliged to fight them hand to hand!"
The whole of the schooner's guns were fired, one after the other, but the port-fire unfortunately burnt out just
about that time, so that we were unable to ascertain what effect had been produced, and before another could
be found and lighted we heard and felt the light shocks of collision as the canoes dashed alongside, and in a
moment found ourselves engaged in attempting to check the onset of a perfect wall of savages that hemmed us
in on every side, and surged, and struggled, and writhed, and panted as they endeavoured to force a way
through the stubborn boarding nettings. It was just the tricing up of those nettings that saved us; but for them
the schooner's decks would have been overrun, and we should have been massacred in a moment. As it was,
this unexpected obstacle, which of course none of them had observed in the afternoon--the nettings not being
then triced up--daunted them, for they could neither displace it nor force a way through it, and while they
clung there, like a lot of bees, vainly striving to find or make a passage through it, our men were blazing away
with musket and pistol at the black wall of writhing, yelling humanity, and bowling them over by dozens at a
time. When at length another port-fire was found and lighted, it disclosed to us an appalling picture of dusky,
panting bodies, blazing eyeballs, waving skins and plumes, gleaming spear-points, and upraised war-clubs
hemming us in on both sides, from stem to stern, every separate individual glaring at us with demoniac hate
and fury as he strove ineffectually to get at us.
The savages fell in scores at a time beneath our close and withering fire, and at length, finding the netting
impassable, and themselves being shot down to no purpose, they suddenly abandoned the attack and flung
themselves back into their canoes, in which they made off with all speed for the shore, subjected meanwhile to
a galling fire of grape and canister from our guns, which I very regretfully allowed to be maintained, believing
that our only chance of safety lay in inflicting upon them a severe enough lesson to utterly discourage them
from any renewal of the attack. We continued firing until the last canoe had reached the shore, by which time
eleven of them had been utterly destroyed and several others badly damaged, resulting in a loss to Matadi of,
according to my estimate, not far short of three hundred men. We had just ceased firing, and the men were
busy securing the guns again, when the threatened storm burst forth, and our fight terminated with one of the
most terrific tempests of thunder, lightning, and rain that I had ever been exposed to. It; lasted until about
three o'clock the next morning, and then passed off, leaving the heavens calm, clear, and serene once more,
and the stars even more brilliant than they had been before the gathering of the storm. Of course, after the
attempted surprise of the schooner by the savages, there was no more sleep for me that night, and before dawn
I had resolved to send a boat ashore, demanding the surrender of Matadi and his chiefs, as hostages for the
CHAPTER TWENTY. 137
good behaviour of their people until the delivery of the English prisoners, the alternative, in case of refusal,
being the destruction of the town.
Accordingly, as the rising sun was gilding the hill-tops, I ordered the boat to be lowered, and sent her away in
Gowland's charge, with Lobo to act as interpreter, with a message to that effect. The guard of warriors still
held the landing-place, and to the chief in command of them the message was given; its receipt, as Gowland
subsequently informed me, producing a very considerable amount of consternation. The reply was that Matadi
had been very severely wounded in the accidental engagement of the previous night, and was believed to be
dying; but that the chief to whom the message had been given would communicate with his brother chiefs,
and that we should receive their reply on the following morning. And to this Gowland had replied that if the
white prisoners were not surrendered, safe and sound, or the whole of the chiefs, Matadi included, on board
the schooner when the sun stood over a certain hill-top--which would be in about an hour from that
moment--the schooner's guns would open fire upon the town and continue its bombardment until every house
in it was razed to the ground. And therewith the gig returned to the ship, and was again hoisted to the davits.
This peremptory message, coupled no doubt with the experiences of the preceding night, had its desired
effect; for while the sun was still a quarter of an hour distant from that part of the heavens that Gowland had
indicated, we saw a procession issue from the fetish-house in the centre of the town, which our telescopes
enabled us to make out as consisting of a group of white men, closely guarded by a body of some two hundred
armed warriors, detailed, it would appear, for the purpose of guarding the whites from the fury of the
witch-doctors, or priests, who were thus most unwillingly deprived of their prey, and who accompanied the
party right down to the shore, doing their best to instigate the people to attack the escort and recapture the
released prisoners. There was a terrific hubbub over the affair, repeated rushes being made at the party; but the
guards appeared to use their clubs with great freedom, and eventually the cortege reached the river, and the
whites were safely embarked in three large canoes which, manned by natives, and apparently in charge of
some authoritative person, at once shoved off for the schooner.
Upon the arrival of this little flotilla alongside it was found that the white prisoners brought off for surrender
numbered twenty-eight, all of whom were in a most wretched plight from sickness and the barbarous neglect
with which they had been treated during their long and wearisome captivity. They consisted of the Sapphire's
late second and third lieutenants, one midshipman, nine marines, and sixteen seamen; one midshipman, three
marines, and two seamen having died of fever during the time that they had been in Matadi's hands. So
frightfully were they reduced by suffering and despair, that when the poor little surviving mid--a mere lad of
sixteen--was helped up the side to the schooner's low deck his nerve entirely gave way, and he fell upon the
planks in a paroxysm of hysterical tears, and wild, incoherent ejaculations of gratitude to God for having
delivered him from a living death; while as for the others, they were too deeply moved and shaken to utter
more than a husky word or two for the moment, but the convulsive grip of their emaciated hands, their
quivering lips, and the look of almost incredulous delight with which they gazed about them and into our
faces, spoke far more eloquently than words. Needless to say, we gave them a most hearty and fraternal
welcome, at once and before every thing else providing as far as we could for their physical comfort, while
Armstrong, our warm-hearted Scotch surgeon, immediately took them in hand with a good-will that promised
wonders in the way of speedy restoration to health and strength.
During all this while the three canoes had remained alongside; and by and by, when I had once more time to
think of other matters than those more immediately concerning my guests, Lobo came to me and informed me
that the chiefs who had brought off the released white men were waiting for the payment of the promised
ransom. I thought this tolerably cool, after the treacherous manner in which they had attacked us during the
preceding night; but I was too greatly rejoiced at the success of my mission to be very severe or retributive in
my behaviour just then. I therefore paid the full amount agreed upon, but directed Lobo to say that although I
paid it I did not consider that Matadi was entitled to claim a single article in view of his unprovoked attack
upon the schooner, and the miserable condition in which he had delivered up his captives. But I paid it in
order that he might practically learn that an Englishman never breaks a promise that he has once made. And
CHAPTER TWENTY. 138
having duly impressed this upon them, I gave them further to understand that, should it ever happen that other
white men fell into their hands, they would be expected to treat them with the utmost kindness and
consideration, upon pain of condign punishment should they fail to do so, and that upon delivering any such
whites, safe and sound, to the first warship that might happen to enter the river, they would be handsomely
rewarded.
This matter settled, our business with Matadi was at an end, and although there happened to be not a breath of
wind stirring, I determined to make a start down the river at once, and get to sea as soon as possible, in order
that the rescued men might not be deprived, for one moment longer than was absolutely necessary, of the
restorative effects of the pure salt breeze. We accordingly manned the capstan forthwith, hove short, and then
proceeded down-stream by the process of navigation known as "dredging"; that is to say, we kept the
schooner in the proper channel by means of the anchor and the rudder combined, allowing the anchor to just
touch and drag along the ground when it became necessary to sheer the ship away from a danger, and at other
times heaving it off the ground a few feet and allowing the craft to drift with the current. And so strong was
the rush of the river just then, that by its means alone we accomplished a descent of no less than thirty miles
that day before sunset, anchoring for the night in a very snug cove on the northern bank of the river, under the
shadow of some high hills. Then, during the night, a light southerly air sprang up, freshening towards morning
into a spanking breeze that soon became half a gale of wind, and under its welcome impulse--although we
found it rather shy with us in some of the narrowest and most intricate parts of the navigation--we contrived to
complete the descent of the remaining portion of the river on our second day out from Matadi's town, arriving
off the mouth of Banana Creek about an hour before sunset. Here, in fulfilment of my promise, I released
Lobo, who, to do him justice, had served us well when he found that it was to his interest to do so. And I may
now dismiss him finally from my story by saying that when one of the ships of our squadron put into the river
about three weeks later, it was found that Senor Lobo had profited by my advice to the extent that he had
disposed of his factory and other property, just as it stood, to his former manager--the purchase-money being
paid three-fourths down, the remainder to be paid by instalments at three and six months' date. And a very
excellent bargain he contrived to make, too, so I understood, the unfortunate buyer suffering a heavy loss
when the captain of the cruiser made it his first business to destroy the barracoon, which formed a portion of
the property, although the aforesaid buyer of course made a point of vowing most emphatically that he had no
intention whatever of using the structure for slave-dealing purposes, to which also, as a matter of course, he
declared that he had a most righteous aversion.
Having landed Lobo, we proceeded to sea that same night, carrying the southerly breeze with us all through
the night, and then falling in with a regular twister from the eastward that carried us right across the Line to
about latitude 0 degrees 47 minutes North. From thence we had light and variable breezes to Sierra Leone,
despite which we made an excellent passage, arriving in the anchorage in just three days short of a month
from the date of our leaving it upon our rescuing expedition; and I am happy to say that when we landed the
rescued party they had all so far rallied as to render their perfect recovery merely a matter of time, provided,
of course, that the deadly fever of the coast did not carry them off in the meanwhile.
On our arrival in Sierra Leone I was greatly surprised to find the Barracouta still in harbour; and I of course
lost no time in going on board to report myself and, incidentally, to find out the reason of her prolonged stay
in port. But on presenting myself on board I discovered that I had been mistaken in supposing her to have lain
there idle during the whole period of my cruise--on the contrary, she had only arrived three days before the
Felicidad; and after I had told my story and received the compliments of the captain and the rest of the
officers upon what they were pleased to term the boldness and judgment with which I had executed my
mission, I had to listen in return to a story as gruesome as can well be imagined, although it was told in very
few words. It appeared, then, that a day or two after my departure, the Barracouta again put to sea with the
fixed but unexpressed determination to prosecute a further search for the Francesca, the wind and weather
having meanwhile been such as to encourage Captain Stopford in the hope that by adopting certain measures
he might yet contrive to fall in with her. And he had done so, though by no means in the manner that he had
expected, the cruise being without result in the direction in which he had hoped to meet with success. Some
CHAPTER TWENTY. 139
days later, however, after the search had been reluctantly abandoned, and while the brig was edging in
towards the coast again, hoping to pick up a prize to recompense them in a measure for their disappointment,
they had unexpectedly fallen in with the Francesca, again, and were not long in coming to the conclusion that
something was seriously wrong on board her, both her topmasts being carried away close to the caps and
hanging suspended by the rigging, with no apparent effort being made to clear away the wreck, although the
weather was then quite fine. Sail was of course at once made to close with the dismantled craft, and then
another surprise met them, for although the intention of the brig must have been from the first moment
unmistakable, no attempt was made to avoid the encounter, which, however, was accounted for a little later by
the fact that the Francesca appeared to be in an unmanageable condition. Then, as the brig neared her still
more closely, it was seen that the sweeps were rigged out but not manned, although the deck was crowded
with people, unmistakably blacks. And then it was that for the first time the dreadful surmise dawned upon
Captain Stopford's mind--a surmise that soon proved to be true--that the negroes, doubtless goaded to frenzy
by their continued ill-treatment, had risen upon and massacred the entire crew and taken possession of the
brigantine, which of course they had not the remotest idea how to handle.
The Barracouta soon arrived upon the Francesca's weather quarter, and the evidences of the fearful deed then
became unmistakable, the scuppers still bearing the stains of the ensanguined stream that had poured from
them, while among the whole of that crowd of yelling, fiercely gesticulating blacks, not a single white face
was to be seen. Boats were at once lowered and a strong crew sent away to take possession of the disabled
vessel, but the emancipated slaves, maddened at the thought of again falling into the hands of the hated
whites, and, of course, unaware of the fact that the brig's crew were anxious only to render them a service,
offered so desperate a resistance to the boarders that Young, who led the latter, recognising the impossibility
of taking the brigantine without serious loss of life, withdrew to consult with Captain Stopford as to the best
course to pursue. Meanwhile, the wind fell away to a calm, of which circumstance the slaves took advantage
by manning the sweeps and gradually withdrawing from the vicinity of the Barracouta, This was about
sunset; and three hours later a bright blaze upon the horizon proclaimed that the notorious Francesca had
either caught or been set on fire in some inexplicable way. The brig's boats were at once manned and
dispatched to the rescue of the unhappy blacks, or as many of them as it might be possible to save; but the
brigantine was by this time some nine miles away, the flames burnt with ever-increasing fury, and while the
boats were still some three miles distant the doomed ship blew up, and the occupants of the boats saw the
bodies of the miserable blacks hurled high in the air in the midst of a dazzling sheet of flame and a cloud of
smoke. When the boats arrived upon the scene of the disaster, all that remained of the once gallant but guilty
Francesca consisted of a few charred timbers and fragments of half-burnt planking, in the midst of which
floated some forty or fifty dead bodies of negroes; the rest had vanished--whither?
Such, reader, is the story, and such was the end of the Pirate Slaver, the terrible doom of which, when it
became known, caused such a thrill of horror in the breasts of those who had emulated her crew in their career
of crime, that from that time forward there was a noticeable falling-off in the number of vessels frequenting
the West African rivers in search of slaves; and finally, a year or two later, the appearance of fast steamers in
the slave-squadron rendered the chances of success so remote that but a few of the most enterprising had heart
to continue the pursuit of so risky and unprofitable a business. And when these were one by one captured and
their vessels condemned, the infamous trade dwindled more and more, until it finally died out altogether,
never, let us hope, to be revived again.
THE END.
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